Strawberry Secrets
by death.by.shuriken
Summary: Sakura grasps the knack of accelerating and reversing the effects of aging, giving her the ability to slip between being a teenager and adulthood. KakaSaku
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** It's a KakuXSaku fic. Just bear with me. I'm sure you can see where this is going. I'll just add a few surprises along the way. ;) Bear with me. It's a work in progress. It is a nice change from all the NaruXSasu fics that I've been writing. I think Kakashi and Sakura make a cute couple. If Sakura were a bit older, that is. It was said somewhere that Kakashi is 26. This is set five years ahead of the original Naruto plot, where Sakura is 17 so that'd make Kakashi 31.

**Disclaimers**: Don't own it. :(

**Strawberry Secrets**

She stood in the club, feeling out of sorts with the surroundings. Sakura shouldn't have been there. Such places were taboo for young girls her age but no one knew that she was really seventeen. When the bouncer had looked at her before letting her in, he saw a 25 year old woman. She had wanted to go into the bar to see what it was like, that was all. It was a simple in and out sort of thing, but curiosity got the best of her and she found herself quaffing something that tasted like watermelons and nail polish remover. It was disgusting but strangely enough, she found herself asking for another. In the midst of her teachers and mentors, it was a strange sensation but when she realized that no one recognized her, she grew comfortable.

Tossing back hair the colour of a strawberry milkshake, she scanned the crowded bar. It was Friday and payday for the jounin. Anyone who was of age had headed there soon after work was out, Sakura had heard them all talking about it. Gai was spouting about the 'fire of youth' to Genma who was only half listening. He had his free hand– the hand not holding his drink, around Kiba's sister's shoulders. She was scowling at him, her over developed canines peeking out from her part lips. Kakashi's long legs and arms were draped over the chair he was sitting, or rather, slouched in but there was no drink in sight. Shizune sat beside him, her back mostly to Sakura, deep in conversation with Iruka who seemed a bit flushed with a few empty cups sitting in front of him.

Sakura twisted her hair in a rope and caught it in a long steel pin on her head. Her hitai-ate was pulled down on her neck and tied like a choker with the metal plate slightly canted to the left. All of her clothes were too small for her to fit in, since she now had a fully developed mature body. She had snuck a pair of black slacks and cotton blouse with little flowers printed over it. It was dorky and she felt like she was going to Sunday school, not a bar but it had accommodated her newly acquired breasts and full hips. Even her mother's blouse had been a little too tight, the spaces between the buttons gaped slightly if she didn't keep it tucked tightly in her pants. So she had to move stiffly to keep from showing everyone that she wasn't wearing a bra. Being 16 and barely developed, she hadn't quite grasped the delicate art of wearing such a painful look contraption, opting for a comfy extra-small sports bra instead, just out of pride's sake rather than necessity. She made a mental note to ask Ino how to put on make-up, since even that art had somewhat alluded her in her studies. Although it was a lesson she had avoiding, seeing how her most important objectives were to become more powerful and that certainly wasn't attained by Mascara and eyeliner techniques.

After her third drink, Sakura found herself bored. She wondered what it was that women did when frequenting bars, since this was her first. She looked around and found many of women in groups of mixed sexes, laughing and talking. They were wearing cool clothes, make-up and impeccable hair or still dressed in their jounin uniforms. Glancing at her watch, it was ten o'clock and the from just a glance outside, she could tell that business was about to pick up. The music had gotten louder, the crowds more raucious. In a matter of forty-five minutes, Sakura found herself pressed against the bar by a particularly rowdy bunch of jounin. She ordered a drink and slid into a newly vacated barstool. It seemed that any place to sit was a hot commodity in the growing crowd.

"Are you going to drink that, or nurse it?" A voice asked lazily, so close to her ear that it startled her slightly.

She looked to her side, seeing Kakashi peering down at her with one visible black eye. "I-I'm drinking it, of course." Bringing the glass to her lips, she sipped it and tried to suppress the face she made as the bitter liquid bit at her palate. It took two tries before she managed to swallow it but when she had accomplished her task, she set the glass down and smiled up at him encouragingly.

"Too bitter?"

"A little." She blushed under his close scrutiny.

"You look familiar?"

Her back straightened and she laughed nervously, "Oh? I must have that kind of face."

The bartender appeared before Kakashi could answer. The silver-haired jounin smiled at her before ordering a drink. Neither spoke until the bartender appeared, exchanging the glass for currency. "Here, this is probably better suited to your personality." He said, swapping the barely touched glass of mango rum for the one he had just ordered. "It's called a strawberry daiquiri."

"Oh... thank you... Ka-uhm-er..." She covered up her mistake by coughing loudly into her balled fist.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, sorry... it was the other drink. Guess it was too bitter." She said lamely before sipping her new drink through a colourful straw. It was sweet and tasted like strawberries, much like the slushies her mom used to make her when she was a kid. "This is really tasty!" Sakura said happily, taking another deep drink.

"You've never been here before." His statement caused her to swivel around to stare at her, "I've never seen you here before."

"Oh?" She said in a small voice, taking another sip of her drink.

"What's your name?"

It wasn't possible to give him her own name, keeping in mind that maybe he at least recognized her on a sub-conscious level. Thinking fast, she blurted, "Naoru... Konayume Naoru." Taking another sip, she belatedly added, "And you?"

"Hatake Kakashi." He smiled, or rather did something with his mouth beneath the cloth of his mask that looked like a smile. "So what brings you here, Konayume-san?"

"Just needed a break... you know how it goes. Being an adult and-and the stress and all..." She stuttered, feeling stupid.

"Do I?"

"Do you what?"

"Know what it's like to be an adult?"

The voice in her head growled at that question, 'what is he stupid? What the hell kind of question is that?' She asked inwardly but outwardly, giggled foolishly and thought of something to say. Her nose was tingling, she felt a sort of heavy fog settle in her brain. "Uhm... you look like an adult to me. I'm sure the bouncer would have stopped you if he had any doubts..."

"How many drinks have you had, Konayume-san?"

She blinked at the suddenness of the question and mentally tried to tabulate the drinks she had consumed that night. For someone who had never had an alcoholic beverage before, she had consumed a fair amount. "Uhm... this is my fourth." She smiled at him before finishing off the daiquiri in one big slurp while she waved four fingers in his face.

"And let me guess, you've never had a drink before in your life, have you?"

"Uuhmm... I have too!"

"Well, if you have, you don't drink often." Kakashi smiled and waved to the bartender, ordering a bottle of water for the tipsy woman. "You better drink this or you'll be feeling sick in the morning."

The bartender whisked the empty daiquiri glass away, replacing it with a bottle of water. "I'm not drunk." Sakura pushed away the bottle of water, wrinkling her nose. She stood, feeling the close proximity of her former sensei was scrambling her brain. Despite truly believing that she wasn't drunk, Sakura would have sank to the floor but Kakashi had caught her in his strong arms. He crushed her to his chest, momentarily revelling in the feel of her breasts, crushing against his chest.

"Not drunk?" He juggled to free a hand and grabbed the water. "You sure about that?"

She pushed away from his chest but didn't trust her legs as the room pitched and swayed. Sakura felt nauseous all of a sudden. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against Kakashi's chest, not bothering to realize how inappropriate her current position was. "Oh boy. Just stop the room from moving and I'll be fine."

"Is the lady alright?" The bartender asked, appearing from the other end as he caught sight of the young woman almost falling off her chair.

"Yeah, she's just had a little too much to drink." Kakashi answered, smiling at the man from beneath his mask.

He nodded and moved off to serve other customers, knowing that the jounin would know how to take care of the woman although it wasn't his responsibility. The bartender had always thought that Kakashi was a good man. He had been a regular for as long as he had worked here but strangely enough, had never seen him drink a drop of liquor despite ordering.

Meanwhile, Kakashi had patiently ushered the drunken woman out the door. The cool night air seemed to revive her somewhat. She lifted her head and drank some of the water that the jounin had carefully offered her before passing out completely, her legs buckling beneath her. With a weary sigh and an inward curse, Kakashi cradled his burden against his chest and stood trying to figure out where he was to put the woman.

He was unwilling to just abandon the woman. It was against his nature to do so, even if she had been conscious enough to request it. Luckily, it was only a few blocks away from his apartment, a decent walk with an unconscious woman in his arms. The only obstacle was the keys, which after skilful manuevering, were extracted from his pocket and the door was unlocked. Kicking it closed when he got inside, he laid the woman out on the couch before fetching himself a drink. Pouring himself three fingers of scotch in a crystal snifter, he sat in a chair facing the couch and pulled his mask from his mouth. He watched her as she slept, the silence broken only by the clink of ice in his glass as he sipped at the liquor. She moved in her sleep, groaning slightly as her dreams plagued her. Her shifting caused her hairpin to pull loose and clatter to the floor. It flashed silver in the moonlight that poured in from the window behind her before resting in the shadows beneath his coffee table. Her hair shimmered like a pink curtain over one arm, its long ends coiling on the hardwood floor.

Sakura woke slowly, trying to figure out where she was. Those thoughts were staunched by the throbbing pain in her forehead and the sick feeling in her stomach. She looked around and groaned. Where was she?

"Konayume-san?" The voice in the darkness startled her, her thoughts once again interrupted. She looked up and saw silver hair highlighted in the silvery rays of the moon. "You passed out at the bar. You had too much to drink. I brought you here, seeing as I had no idea where your own home was."

Kakashi. She remembered that she had been talking to him before everything grew hazy. She sat up, feeling the cool, silk of her hair cascade around her shoulders and rub against her neck. "Oh. Yes. Thank you very much, Hatake-san. I'm sorry to have inconvienenced you."

"Not at all."

She stood up slowly, still not trusting her trecherous legs. She swallowed back the urge to throw-up. "I think I will be going right now."

"I'll walk you to your house." Kakashi offered, standing.

"No, that's fine." He would most certainly know who she was if he found out where she lived. "I'll make it."

"Do you know where are you are?"

"Er... no..." She realized that she had no idea where Kakashi lived, but growing up in this town she was very familiar with the streets. Trusting her memory, she smiled reassuringly, "But I've lived here all my life, I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Of course, being a Kunoichi, I'd expect that." He smiled, his eyes sliding from her face to the hitai-ate tied around her neck.

"Good night, Hatake-san. And thank you again." She said before leaving.

She walked out of the apartment and took a deep breath to orientate herself. Looking around and gaging where she was from the Hokage monument, she figured that she was only a few blocks north from her home. She leaned heavily against the wall of the building she had just exited and took a deep breath the steel herself for the journey.

The journey should have taken her fifteen minutes but she had gotten distracted, her drunkenness had caused her stomach to quiver as its contents sloshed around. Only barely had she managed to save from publicly humiliating herself. She stumbled into an alley and leaned over a dumpster, purging her over-taxed stomach of the alcohol that threatened to poison her system. After that, she felt somewhat better, despite the foul taste in her mouth. The rest of the journey to her house was quick. She got into her room via her open window, divulged herself of her clothes and fell into bed.

TBC  



	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** I know it's a little slow to start but it'll pick up in the next few chapters. I've been at a loss of what to do but I've finally decided the best route. There were so many possibilities after the first chapter that my brain when haywire as my muse started force-feeding it ideas. As for the bad spelling... sorry. :P I'll have to go back and spellcheck it. I put it up without really re-reading it. Ah well, some of the greatest writers in the world can't spell to save their lives. lol. I guess that's still no excuse. I can hear my highschool creative writer teacher slamming a book against the back of my head. Muah! I'm sorry Mr. Bemrose.

** Disclaimer:** All disclaimers still apply. I still don't own it after promising that I'd take really good care of Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun. Somehow... they just don't believe me. --;;

**Chapter 2**

Sakura was in trouble. A lot of trouble. She stood before the Hokage's desk, her eyes locked on the litter that scattered across its surface. Finding herself unable to meet the older woman's intense glare, she fidgeted slightly and fought the urge to run.

"So you are telling me that you went to a bar last night– knowing that you shouldn't have been there and, again, knowing that you were underage, drank alcohol?" Tsunade's voice was soft, ringing with disappointment and anger.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama." Sakura mumbled, tears threatening to break free of their emerald confines. She itched to swipe at them as they finally tumbled down her cool, flushed cheeks. How had Tsunade managed to get the truth out of her when she had every intention of keeping it a secret, was beyond Sakura's comprehension. The dead giveaway might have been the fact that she was caught tossing her cookies in the bathroom by Shizune. Or that she smelled slightly of alcohol because she hadn't had enough time to shower. Or it could have possibly been the fact that she was late. But it wasn't like she hadn't gone to the bar without a disguise.

"I recognized you right away, Sakura." Shizune said from her place beside the Godaime's desk. "I didn't say anything to anyone because I thought that Tsunade-sama should know first. What you did to change your appearance was extremely dangerous!"

"B-but I had it under control–"

Slamming her fist down with more power than she had intended, Tsunade launched herself from her chair and glared at her prized pupil. "And what if you hadn't? What if you had lost control of it when you were turning yourself back? You could have killed yourself!" She lifted her hands from the shattered desk's surface and caught a scroll as it rolled towards the edge.

"Does anyone else know about this? What about Kakashi?" Tsunade asked, glancing at Shizune. Obviously, Shizune had known that she had left with her former sensei and had reported that too. "Shizune said she saw you leaving with him. What did you do, Sakura?"

"N-nothing! I passed out and he was gentlemanly enough to bring me to his place until I recovered my senses. I walked home after I regained consciousness." Sakura blurted, getting the feeling if she hadn't cleared up what she was doing in the copy-nin's home, she would have been in more trouble and Kakashi would be dragged into it. She didn't want that, seeing how she was already embarrassed enough as is. Kakashi didn't deserve it, anyways. After being so kind to her by making sure she wasn't hurt at the bar.

"Does he suspect, Shizune?" Tsunade turned her head towards her assistant.

Shizune shook her head, "No. She had enough sense to keep her real name out of it but I'm not sure he's convinced of its validity. I think that if things aren't cleared up soon, he's going to start his own investigation."

"We can't have him sticking his nose where it doesn't belong." Tsunade glanced down at the mission scrolls strewn across her desk. "He's been idle for too long. I think a nice long mission is in store for Hatake-san."

"Don't punish him because of me." Sakura cried, "It was my fault. Punish me."

"Oh, you'll get what's coming to you, don't you worry." Tsunade speared her with an angry look. "As for Kakashi, we can't afford to have him inadvertently find out what you have been up to. This skill that you've developed... if anyone finds out about it, there will be a lot of people who will want it. People like Orochimaru, who is still at large."

Dread lodged itself in her throat. Sakura stood speechless in front of her mentor and the leader of her village. "I-I didn't th-think it would b-be..."

"Of course you didn't think, Sakura!" Tsunade said harshly, "You never think of anyone but yourself! You don't know how much danger you could have put our village in if this were to slip out. No one is to know about this, under any circumstances. If I catch you using this jitsu again, there will be very harsh consequences."

Duly chastened, Sakura nodded mutely.

"And as for your punishment, I have a few d-ranked missions that you will take. As well, there will be a test on what you have learned this far. Also, I see you're down on your volunteer time at the hospital. Go there and report to Maki-san as soon as you are dismissed with me. You will do double the hours and I expect them to be done by the end of the week. If you have enough time to create and use forbidden jitsu, then you have enough time for studies, mission and homework." Tsunade sat back down in her chair and glared at the young girl. "Now get out of my sight and don't come back until I'm ready to give you your missions."

When the girl had left, Shizune looked at her mentor and asked, "May I speak freely, Tsunade-sama?"

"You think I've been too hard on her?"

"Yes."

Tsunade turned her chair to face the window, she stared out at the village. "She may have just found the literal answer to immorality. She figured out something that I've been trying to do for years. And she used it to get into a bar. If she has found a way to reverse the effects of aging without any side-affects, then she's opened up a floodgate and who knows what the hell is going to come out of it."

_/Sakura-and-Kakashi-sitting-in-a-tree-k-i-s-s-i-n-g\\_

Sakura felt bad. She felt worse than bad. She felt worse-bad. Shaking her head out of her glum thoughts, she finished off the last of the chores that Maki-sensei had given her. The doctor hadn't been lenient with her, sensing that she did something really bad and needed to be punished. He had taken to the notion of inflicting as much torment on the pink haired kunoichi as possible, since he had always secretly disliked the girl. It wasn't much of a secret, actually. Sakura had sensed it from the moment she laid eyes on him, and had reciprocated in kind by shirking chores and showing up the doctor whenever she could. But now with the doctor breathing over her shoulder, watching her every move, she had to be flawless— and was.

Two months straight of mundane missions like walking dogs and clearing rice fields of pests, as well as cleaning bedpans and sponge bathing old people and Sakura had almost reached her limit. She wondered when her punishment would end. When she would take the dreaded test that Tsunade had mentioned in what seemed an eternity ago? She had gotten up at the crack of dawn, finished all the d-ranked missions and then had gone to the hospital to stay there until sun-down, where she would go home and study until she fell asleep in her books.

One particular morning, it was grey and dark outside. The forecast was looking bleak, promising rain that would turn into snow later on in the day. Sakura sighed at this bit of information, glumly turning off the radio before searching for her coat and mitts. She felt run-down and short tempered. Luckily, her parents hadn't been around to inadvertently instigate her temper. They were off on vacation after her father had gotten back from one particularly long mission. Her mother had taken time off of work to be with her father as they travelled north to visit relatives.

She put her dishes in the sink before shrugging into her winter jacket. It was a little tight over her shoulders and smelled like must. She made a mental note to find some time during her next break to go buy a new winter jacket. Seeing as she had made a lot of money from all the missions she had been forced to take, and with no chance to spend it, she figured that she owed herself at least something for all her hard work.

When she had arrived at the hospital after doing her missions, she was surprised to be met by absolute mayhem. After shucking off her coat and mitts, she was immediately swept up in the chaos, learning that two teams had come in suffering heavy casualties. Without bothering to check in with Maki-sensei, she had gone to work providing screaming doctors with utensils to make their jobs easier, and cleaning up lighter flesh wounds that didn't really need any attention from doctors but had to be taken care of. When finally the rush had dwindled to a trickle, Sakura allowed herself a small break.

"I NEED SOME HELP HERE!" A familiar voice yelled as doors swung open, admitting Kiba's sister who had Kakashi slung across her back. A new burst of activity and three more people were came rushing in behind her.

Sakura was at her side, wheeling a Gurney to receive the unconscious shinobi. She glanced at his wounds and her heart caught in her throat. A gaping wound, it looked like it had been done by a knife, bled profusely from Kakashi's left shoulder. There was another wound on the right side of his neck, it looked like his jugular had been severed by the amount of blood pumping out. She clapped a hand over the wound, forcing her chakra into his body to jump start the cells into reforming and knitting the tissue closed. When the blood had stopped flowing, she glanced around to see if there were any doctors coming, all were busy with the patients that had come in that morning. She cursed and moved one blood coated hand from the wound in his neck to the one on his shoulder. Another frantic blast of chakra and she could feel the exposed flesh beneath her palm begin to reform and knit itself back together. "Where are the doctors?" She yelled at a nurse who had come running from another operating room.

"They are tied up in surgery, Sakura-chan!" The nurse said as she arrived at the girl's side. Sakura began barking orders, taking control of Kakashi's wounds. "We have to move him into another room." She said, looking around for a free room.

Another nurse joined them, "I know where one is." She said and took hold of the Gurney.

"Wait, I've got my hands on him and I can't move!" Sakura cried.

"Get on top of him." The first nurse suggested quickly, "It's the only way."

Swallowing her wounded modesty for Kakashi's sake, she straddled his stomach as the Gurney was pushed into an operating room. By the time that they had come to a halt, the torn veins had been repair, the blood had slowed to a trickle. "Get him something for the pain." She said, unsure of what else to do as she channelled more energy into healing. "He might come to."

When finally she had deemed it safe to get off of Kakashi's prone form, she set her feet on the ground and grasped the edge of the bed as her knees began to buckle. The amount of chakra she had used left her weak and disoriented. She sat hard on the ground, her legs beneath her. "Sakura-chan! Are you alright?" One of the nurses cried, rushing over to the young woman's side.

"I think I've just over-used..." The rest of the words were lost in the sound of blood pounding in her ears. Her sight went blurry and suddenly, her head felt too heavy to hold on her neck. She fell back and would have cracked her head on the floor if the nurse hadn't been beside her to catch her.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** Three chapters back-to-back! Lucky you guys! Why didn't I put it all in one lump? Well, because I personally don't like really long epic-like chapters. I usually end up taking breaks and/or letting my mind wander during reading and that causes me to skip integral parts in a story. So by breaking it down, it's more friendly to those of us who can't sit still for those six thousand word chappies. Enjoy and don't forget to pet my muse by reviewwwingggg. It encourages her to do better!

On a serious note, I hope you are all familiar with Tsunade's jitsu, _Ninpo Sozo Saise. _It's a bit sketchy, but I hope that I didn't allow my poetic license to get the best of me. Oh and Maki-sensei is my own creation. And-and-and! Sakura and Kakashi are both the same bloodtypes! O, although I haven't found out what their Rhesus factor (RH negative or positive) was. My attempt at research can only go so far before I lose interest.

**Disclaimers**: Disclaimers still apply. No amount of begging or promises of good intentions will ever make them hand over Naruto to me.

**Chapter 3 **

She woke with a start, Kakashi's name rushing from her lips. Blinking back the black spots that floated in her line of vision, she realized that she was in a hospital room and it was dark by the looks of things. The hospital was quiet as it must have been past curfew for visitors. The only people on staff were the skeleton crew, who were quietly making rounds or sipping coffee at the reception desk.

Standing slowly, she swayed side to side on her feet as she gained her balance. Looking down at her hands, she remembered them being caked with Kakashi's blood. Now they were clean and smelled slightly of antiseptic. Her clothes had been changed, she was in scrubs that the nurses usually wore, not her customary red dress and black shorts. Her body felt strangely heavy but she shrugged it off as being tired and fished around for her sandals which sat in a pile with the tattered remains of her dress. Lifting up the ruined garment, she sighed and wondered if Maki-sensei had gone too far by ruining her wardrobe. She sat on the bed once more and tried to get her feet in her sandals. They were too small. She glanced at them and then at her feet, wondering why they had shrunk. Another malicious joke by Maki-san, perhaps?

The lights turned on suddenly and Sakura lifted her head, watching as Tsunade, Shizune and Tonton came in. Tsunade stopped and stared for a moment, Sakura could have sworn she heard a muffled curse from the kunoichi behind Tsunade. "I guess we found out that your jutsu comes with a side-affect."

"What do you mean, my jitsu?" Sakura grumbled, her voice sounding a bit lower but again, she proposed it was exhaustion and dismissed it. "And can you tell Maki-sensei to give me back my shoes... he replaced these ones for ones that are too small."

"Those are your shoes, Sakura. Your feet have just gotten bigger." Tsunade said candidly, sitting on a wheeley chair and scooting across the floor to stop in front of her.

Horror slowly dawned over Sakura, knotting her stomach into a tight ball. She frantically pushed off the bed and ran to the mirror in the bathroom. Flicking on the harsh light, she blinked as her eyes adapted and then stared at the reflection of a stranger staring back at her. Her hair was long, longer than it had ever been before. It fell past her waist, the tips of it brushing against the back of her knees. Her face had gotten a bit longer, her forehead no longer looked really big. Eyebrows arched over the same almond shaped green eyes but her irises seemed brighter than before. Her lips were fuller, her neck a bit longer and the prominent juts of her collarbones were more pronounced. Her hands went from her face to the breasts that hung full beneath the rough fabric of her shirt. She squealed as they travelled downwards, over a hard belly and to her sides, resting on the round of her hip. Her legs were longer, she was taller! Her feet were a bit larger and long, delicately arched. Her toes were no longer blunt looking, but long and dainty. She lifted the hem of her shirt up and stared at the breasts, hardly believing they were hers. She screamed again and dropped the shirt, feeling the walls of the bathroom rapidly closing in on her.

"Oh... my... god..." She mumbled, resting her hands on her forehead. "What am I going to do?"

"It seems that subconsciously, your chakra was feeding your body the right amount of energy to maintain your young teenage body. In all actuality, when you sped up the process of aging, it was irreversible. When you had reversed the aging, it wasn't permanent and when you used up all your energy to heal Kakashi, it reverted back to its aged state." Tsunade said from the bathroom door, watching her pupil frantically feel out the unfamiliar curves of her body.

"S-so... I just lost like ten years of my life because of this?" Sakura asked, tears flooding her eyes.

"I think that you might be able to maintain your body at that state until your mind catches up. Unfortunately, this is something that will always eat away at a bit of your chakra." Tsunade answered. She motioned to Shizune, who quietly shut the door as she left with Tonton, leaving the two women alone.

"What can I do?"

Tapping the ever-present tattooed diamond on her forehead, Tsunade said, "I can teach you my _Ninpo Sozo Saise._ This will help preserve chakra for when you need it the most. It'll compensate for the chakra that you lose while trying to keep yourself looking younger."

Sakura nodded numbly. "A-alright." Never having seen the technique before, she was curious.

"Your lesson will have to start now. I'll tell you how to gather the chakra in a certain spot on your body. When the time comes and you have enough stored, we'll use it to return you back to your normal state. For now, I don't think you have enough and I'm not going to do it for you. This is a lesson you'll have to learn the hard way."

"B-but what about my parents? What about the other villagers?"

"They won't recognize you. We'll just say that Sakura is gone with her parents. Your parents aren't expected back for a few more weeks. In that time, you'll be back to normal. Your name is now Haruno Naoru. Since Konayume is an absolutely ridiculous name and it would raise suspicion since you're living at the Haruno household and have their trademark hair colour." Tsunade explained logically, "Remember the Leaf Chakra training they make you do in the academy?"

Sakura remembered Iruka-sensei pulling out the leaf and sticking it to her forehead with kindly instructions to concentrate all of her energy into it. "Yes, I remember."

"The beginning to the Regeneration technique goes along with these principles. First, pick a spot where you want to gather your energy." Sakura nodded encouragingly after picking the spot out and holding it in her mind's eye. "Now, the shape of the mark. Something simple." Again, she nodded after figuring out the simple shape of her mark. "Now, here's the hard part. You've got to start channelling Chakra into it without completely bleeding yourself dry. Be careful because you might get too zealous at first and leave yourself with absolutely no energy."

Sakura felt the back of her neck itch and burn as she tried to summon what energy she could into making the mark. She winced and clapped a hand to the spot at the base of her neck. "It hurts!"

"It will always be like that when you feed chakra into it." Tsunade explained, "But after a while, you get used to it."

Nodding after that encouraging bit of advice, Sakura again closed her eyes and focussed her energy on making the mark. The burning and itching intensified as she poured a bit of chakra into it. "What now?" She bit out, trying to keep the energy from escaping.

"Tie it off."

She struggled with it but eventually, the energy flow to the small mark on the back of her neck was cut off and tied. It vibrated slightly but was no longer painful, much to Sakura's relief. "It's still vibrating."

"That's because it's trying to escape and return to the normal flow of chakra in your body. For a while, you're going to have to make a conscious effort to keep it in place. Eventually, you'll do it without even noticing it." Tsunade looked thoughtful for a moment as she fished in the deep pockets of her green robe. With a small, triumphant 'ah-ha!' she pulled out a Bandaid. "Here, put this on it for now. It should help you keep the chakra from returning to your body."

Sakura took the Bandaid and peeled of the paper, putting it over the small vibrating spot on the back of her neck. Immediately, the vibrating stopped and it lay dormant on her skin. She felt it still, like a coin resting heavily on the vertebrae beneath the smooth confines of the Bandaid. She gave her sensei a bright smile, "It stopped vibrating but I can still feel it."

"Yes. Just don't forget about it and from time to time, feed it chakra. You'll have to let the mark expand as learning to concentrate it in one small area is something you'll learn to do in time."

"So the mark will get bigger?"

"Yes."

Sakura nodded. "Fine." She felt relief flood over her and then she groaned, looking down at her newly acquired breasts that were straining against the material of her borrowed scrub shirt. "What am I going to do about clothes?"

Tsunade opened the door. "That's something you're going to have to figure out yourself." She said before leaving.

She fished her hitai-ate out of the remains of her clothes and tied it around her neck before pulling it up over her face to rest on her head, pushing the wayward strands of pink hair out of her eyes. There were paper slippers at the edge of her bed that she put on before venturing further out of her room.

"Where is Hatake Kakashi located?" She asked an orderly who was walking by. He gave her directions and with one appreciative glance, continued his way down the hall. Sakura scowled at his back, wondering fleetingly what he was looking at before remembering she was no longer the flat-chested girl she used to be. Self-consciously folding her arms across her breasts, Sakura went in search of Kakashi's room.

She found him fifteen minutes later, two floors up. The steady beep of the heart monitor could be heard from a few doors down. She smiled at a male nurse as she walked by, he was reading a clipboard. He glanced up and stumbled before blushing and turning back to his paperwork. Wondering about that strange reaction, she walked into her former sensei's room and soon forgot it.

Kakashi lay lifelessly in the bed, hooked up to wires and tubes that coiled about his body like snakes. Tears of guilt and sadness threatened to fall anew as she neared, his face was covered by tape that held tubes in place in his mouth. She took the clipboard that was hanging off the edge of his bed and walked out to the hall, giving herself a break from terrible sight. Concussion, broken ribs, damage to carotid artery, damage to subclavian artery, massive blood loss due to damage to major arteries...

A polite cough broke her concentration, she looked up and into the hated face of Doctor Maki. "Yes, Maki-sensei?"

"Sakura." She looked at the man, shocked that he recognized her. "Hokage-sama told me to keep your identity a secret and I will, I just wanted to let you know that you did a very good job with treating Hatake-san's injuries. If you hadn't acted the way you did, he wouldn't be alive right now."

"I knew what had to be done... and you were all busy with other patients. Besides... Kakashi-sensei is important to me." She said softly, hugging the clipboard to her body.

"Listen, I'm sorry for treating you harshly. Truce?"

"Apology accepted." She had a feeling that she was going to need as many friends as possible in the next few weeks. She glanced down at the clipboard she had been hugging. "Ano... Maki-sensei. About the blood loss. Do you have enough for Kakashi-sensei?"

"We've run a bit short since this afternoon... As you know, O is a universal donor so we've been using it a lot lately. Why?"

"That's my blood type. Will you let me donate to him?"

Looking at the woman-child, Maki sighed, "Sure."

A half hour later, Sakura was strapped to a chair in Kakashi's room with the blood being pumped from her arm. She sat, transfixed on the crimson liquid as it flowed from the tube in her arm to the bag that sat at her side. She smiled as that gaze slid from the bag of blood to Kakashi's still face. Doctor Maki came in with a can of pop in one hand and a bag of gauze and antiseptic swabs in another.

"He's an awfully lucky man to have such a beautiful woman looking after him." Sakura blushed, unaccustomed to such flattery. "You really care for him."

"More than I should. He's been one of the few constants in my life. And one of the many inconsistencies too." She grinned, remembering all the times he was late. His corny excuses. His dirty books. He had taught her a lot about being a strong shinobi who valued the ways of the ninja, with much emphasis in finding her own path. He had taught her a lot about herself, as well as the customs of her given profession. Not to mention the countless times he had saved her life or the life of her friends. Sakura found herself wandering through memories she hadn't indulged in a long time while her new found friend quietly went about removing the needle from her arm. "He'll be alright, won't he?"

"I'm sure he will, Sakura." Doctor Maki smiled at the young woman. "This will go a long way to improving his condition, too." He said as he hung the bag of newly donated blood up to replace the empty one.

"Good." She took the can of pop that the doctor had handed her and opened it. "Yum, my favourite." She said as she took a deep drink of the cherry flavoured carbonated beverage.

"Now, you need to sleep. Go home for a while and come back tomorrow. Don't think you are going to be shirking just because of your present... condition. Naoru will be replacing Sakura as of tomorrow, since Sakura will be off recovering from the stress of saving her former teacher's life." He said as he taped a cotton swab to the inside of her elbow.

"Yes, Maki-sensei." She grumbled after finishing her pop.

When the doctor left, she looked at Kakashi and smiled. Leaning down, she placed a kiss on his forehead before leaving him to whatever it was that he dreamt of.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: **Egad, me and my crappy Author's notes. I abuse this privilege way too much! Anyways, I have something pertinent to say. I hope you don't do what I do and skip these things. Lol. After some research, I found out that Kiba's sister's name is Hana! Useless fact; The Inuzuka clan are named after body parts. Kiba means fang or tooth, Tsume (Kiba and Hana's mother) means claw and Hana means nose. Who got the short end of that deal? Oh well, she could've been called something bad like Wank. I couldn't imagine being called Nose, but then I've been called a lot worse. Although, Hana could be mistaken for 'flower' as well. Ha ha ha! I just thought of something! Hana uses her Hana to smell the Hana! Ha ha ha! I crack myself up sometimes. I gotta lay off the coffee! I use too many exclamation marks. And I just realized why I skip author's notes; because usually they end up prattling like I am doing. Hey, I'm the author and I'm allowed to waffle on if I want. Holy crap, I betcha there are more AN's then there is story. He heh

**Disclaimer**: I don't own it! SO STOP ASKING ME! Although, I do own Maki-sensei and Akiko and Tami.

**Chapter 4**

In the morning, Sakura had been excused from the missions to buy clothes to accommodate the changes to her body. It was exhaustive but eventually, she was able to abandon the scrubs she had been wearing since the previous night for a comfortable pair of black pants, a pink sweater with white five-petaled flowers adorning the hem and a larger pair of closed toe shoes that were more suitable to the cold weather. Along with her new clothes, she purchased a winter coat, hat and mitts.

She bound her calves tightly in bandage, along with her left thigh where she placed her trusty pack containing scrolls, kunai and shuriken. After her shower, before she went shopping, Sakura had tamed the mass of pink hair in a thick braid. The hitai-ate had always served the purpose of keeping her hair from her face, seeing how it was now long enough to be caught back in a braid, she found merely tying it around her neck sufficed.

On her way to the hospital, she remembered the chakra storage mark and quietly fed more energy into it, making an effort not to squirm as the mark itched. She scratched at the Bandaid as she entered the hospital, immediately met by Maki-sensei. The doctor gave her a small stiff smile, a far cry from his friendliness last night, and gave her a list of chores to do. The two nurses that had helped her out with Kakashi gave her knowing smiles as Maki-sensei introduced her as 'Haruno Naoru'. They reciprocated the play-acting by introducing themselves as Akiko and Tami.

After a thorough reintroduction, Sakura set about her chores. First, she quietly slipped into Kakashi's room to find out how he was. Sometime during the night they had taken the tube from his mouth and only a thinner tube in his nose remained. The heart monitor still beeped, showing a strong and even heart rate. The I.V of blood had been replaced with saline, which was another good sign.

She walked deeper into the room, looking for his bag of clothes. It sat in one of the closets at the very bottom in a paper bag. Most of the clothes had been cut off, something that she had remembered doing. She found his mask and brought it over to his bedside. When he woke up, she assumed that he would want it immediately. She set it on the night stand but not before stealing a look at the lower half of his face. She didn't know what it was that she was looking for but she wasn't disappointed either.

There was a scar on his slightly cleft chin that was old and faded, but still there. Could that have been the reason for why he clung so fastidiously to the cloth around his mouth? No. She couldn't see him being that vain. He had a beautiful shaped mouth, thankfully no bucked teeth or fat lips. Although most women could say that his mouth was a bit too wide, which accompanied with the small scar on his chin, threw off the surreal beauty of his perfectly sculpted cheekbones, the straight nose and angled jaw. Despite the dark bruises that smeared down the right side of his face, his skin was something that any girl would envy. Everything about this man, Sakura thought dazedly, was perfect.

"Naoru-san!" Akiko said as she walked into the room. "Maki-sensei is on the prowl! You haven't started your chores yet, have you?"

"Oh!" She turned to look at the woman, blushing profusely. "I-I just wanted to... make...sure..."

"He's handsome, isn't he?" Akiko cooed, looking at the unconscious man appreciatively.

"Y-yes. He is." She stuttered, embarrassed that she'd been caught fawning over her _ex sensei_ of all people. Worried about where her train of thoughts would have headed if Akiko hadn't interrupted her, she let herself be ushered out of the room by the matronly nurse.

Sakura desperately busied herself, occupying her mind to keep thoughts of Kakashi at bay. She scrubbed bedpans and withered backsides with equal ferocity, earning herself a few comments from unappreciative patients who had suffered her ministrations. At least the bedpans were shiny, she thought with a sigh after hearing her last patient complain.

"Where is Sakura? I would like to speak with Haruno Sakura, please!" A familiar voice echoed down the main hallway of the hospital that led to the front reception desk. Sakura walked down the hallway to investigate. "Oh, Hana-san, how can I help you?"

The Inuzuka turned, apparently miffed by the sudden appearance of a stranger, "I'm looking for Haruno Sakura. She helped take care of Kakashi." She sniffed noisily and her gaze narrowed on the woman, "You are a relative? You know her? I can smell her all over you."

Obviously, Sakura had forgotten about the Inuzuka's uncanny dog-like olfactory senses. She fleetingly wondered if they, the Inuzuka clan were colour blind like dogs too. "Oh-er-yes, she's my cousin. I'm here visiting. Unfortunately, Sakura is away at the moment."

"Your visiting and she's away?"

"Uhm, well you see... I'm house-sitting while she goes to meet up with her parents."

Hana sighed, "Well, if you talk to her can you tell her that I appreciate what she did the other day to help out Kakashi-san?"

"Oh, no problem." Touched by the other woman's comment. "Have you seen him?"

"Yes. I was talking to him earlier."

So he was awake. And had probably heard her conversation with Akiko. She felt anger and embarrassment flood her mind, leaving her face flushed. "I went to visit. Sakura left me strict instructions to check up on him. He was sleeping while I was there."

Hana nodded absently before snapping her fingers and saying, "I know where I saw you! You were at the bar! Kakashi picked you up that night!"

"Picked me up...?" she frowned, unsure of what the term implied. "He picked me up, yes. And carried me home. I had too much to drink." She blushed.

Wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, Hana nudged Sakura, "So how was he?"

"You saw for yourself. He's fine. Awake, obviously." She answered, completely missing the dog-woman's innuendo.

"Oh coy girl, you!" The other woman laughed. "Whatever you did, you made quite the impression. Kakashi kept talking about you during the mission."

Weathering the ribald remarks from the Inuzuka clanswoman, she finally excused herself twenty minutes later. "Better be going now." She said, feigning regret. "I've got a million things to do!"

"Oh, well if ya want to, you can come to the bar with us and meet the rest of the gang. I'm sure everyone will like you." Hana smiled.

"Thanks for the offer. I'll think about it." Sakura called to the woman's retreating back.

Thoroughly agitated by the thought of being caught by Kakashi, she stomped up to his room and glared at the seemingly unconscious man. His mask was on. Obviously, he had been awake sometime between when she had left up until now. Thinking of many ways to get him to drop his ruse, most of which would cause more bodily damage, she opted for a more subtle approach. "Thank goodness no one is here and Hatake-san is sleeping." She acted, her eyes fixed on his face as she added, "I'll just change here since I poured apple juice all over my shirt." An eye popped open and if she hadn't been looking, she would have missed it when it immediately closed. With a triumphant 'Ha!' she nudged him with one steely finger on his right bicep, the only place that wasn't injured.

"Oh, _Konayume_-saaaan!" He said pleasantly.

"You were listening in on my conversation."

"And it was such a good conversation, too!" Kakashi grinned but the corner of his eyes were pinched, a tell tale sign that he was in obvious pain. "But don't worry, I agree with you– I _am_ handsome."

"Insufferable, perverted..." She opened her mouth trying to think of something suitable to call the man. "Pervert!" She spluttered.

Kakashi chuckled, "I'm an insufferable, perverted pervert? How cutely redundant, _Konayume_-san."

"Okay! And my last name isn't Konayume!" She blurted, "It's Haruno!"

"Ooooohhhh? Like Haruno Sakura, Haruno?"

"Yes! Like Haruno Sakura, Haruno!" Sakura snapped.

He smiled at her before closing his eyes, "You two look alike. You could be her sister, like a hot older sister."

"Kakashi!" A voice interrupted their conversation before Sakura could remark on his comment. She turned to the door and smiled at Iruka. "You're up! And who is this? Isn't this the girl you picked up a while ago?" The teacher asked happily.

"--He didn't pick me up!"

"–Yes."

"Mou! You are so annoying, Kakashi-seeeaaan!" She drew out the prefix, almost saying -Sensei instead of -san. "I'm going to get you a doctor to give you painkillers." Sakura said before being chased out the door by weird looks from Iruka and pained, stilted chuckles from Kakashi.

"She's a bit odd, Kakashi." She heard Iruka mention but drew too far away to hear the rest of the conversation.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** Some Kakashi-Sakura lovin coming up! And, I wanted to introduce Ino into the story, since she is Sakura's friend after all. Sooo some InoXShikamaru innuendo as well. Possibilities for a InoShika spin-off after I'm done this story and Heat II is possible. :)

**_Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the kind reviews! I appreciate it! Hugs, Kisses and cute little Naruto dolls to all of you!_**

**Disclaimers**: Don't own it. Not even Mr. Ukki. Poor Mr.Ukki... I'm sure that Kakashi is neglecting him.

**Chapter 4 **

Thankfully, she had the week off. Maki had somehow gotten to Tsunade and appealed to her. His change of heart had come when he found her nodding off over her lunch in the staffroom. He had dismissed her as soon as he realized her state, ignoring her protests. She would never have mentioned it, but she strangely wanted to be there to make sure that everything was fine with Kakashi. She had taken a specific interest in his case, dismissing it as mere curiosity and slight pride for healing him. This had nothing to do with the weird ideas of how attractive Kakashi really was. Nope. Not at all.

She stretched in her bed, arching her back until it lifted completely off the mattress and her weight was balanced on the crown of her head. Hearing the vertebrae pop back into place, she slumped back down beneath her covers. The next task was opening her eyes, which was tougher than it appeared with a huge amount of hair to deal with. Keeping it in a bun at the top of her head, pinning it, braiding it and even wearing a hat never really helped her. It kept falling out, threatening to either suffocate her or strangle her. She contemplated cutting it but hadn't the heart to get rid of it. It's mass was a comforting warm weight on her head and shoulders.

With her eyes open, Sakura was one step closer to getting out of bed. She pushed away her hair and glanced out the window, groaning as she caught sight of pewter skies and big fluffy snowflakes. "God hates me." She grumbled, burrowing deeper in her bed to escape the cold she was suddenly aware of.

There was a steady rap at the door. She sat up and listened again, thinking it was just her imagination or the wintery gales rattling the windowpane. There it was again. She dragged herself out of bed and through the house, growling for patience from her visitor.

"What?" She growled, flinging open the door.

"Yo." A muffled greeting said, accompanied with a chilly blast of air.

"Come in! Come in!" She said, dancing from one foot to the other to fight off the cold.

Kakashi sauntered in, his heel catching the door and pushing it closed. "The doctor said you'd be here."

She silently cursed Maki for telling him where she was. Kakashi was here. In her home. While she probably looked hideous in her jogging pants that she had turned into shorts with a pair of scissors and an old sweater with the collar torn out, causing it to hang over one shoulder. She patted at her hair self-consciously, trying her hardest to ignore his stare. "Oh? What would you like, Kakashi-san?"

"I haven't seen you for a few days." He smiled, the corner of his visible eye crinkling with amusement. "I think I embarrassed you?" A subtle lilt to his voice indicated a question rather than a statement but the smile was still there.

"A little bit. It seems that they all think that you picked me up that night." After she had learned the innuendo from Akiko and Tami, who had been giggling behind their hands when she had asked.

"Well, I did pick you up that night. You passed out. I couldn't have just left you on the barroom floor. You would have upset the other patrons." His smile grew, if that were possible.

"Yes, they all think that you brought me to your house and we-we-we had-had...!" She couldn't even say it, she was so mortified. All the frustration from the assumptions of her colleagues, mentors and teachers caused her to start shaking. It was a deep, furious shivering that started at the pit of her belly and vibrated up her spine. She felt helplessness surge over her as the pictures of Tsunade's face, Shizune's face, Iruka's and Hana's as they had assumed something had happened, floated in her mind's eye, taunting her. She sat heavily on the bottom step and felt the urge to start hyperventilating.

"It doesn't matter what they think, Naoru-san. No matter how much convincing you try to do, you can't stop them from thinking what they want." Kakashi shrugged, leaning against the stair's bannister.

"It _does_ matter, though!" She said furiously, tears welling in her green eyes. How could she explain that these people were people she had grown up with all her life, without implicating herself? "I know you don't care what they think, but I do! Their opinions matter to me, more than anything."

"Why?"

"Because no matter what you say, other peoples' opinions will always matter. Maybe not now, but later on it will always come back and it can determine your fate. Peoples' opinions can stop you from getting into schools, stop you from getting a job, keep you from things that you want... from having relationships with other people that you care about."

"In that case, we'll just have to set them right." Kakashi said softly, squatting down on his haunches in front of the emotional woman. He laid his free hand on her arm, the other one was still bound in a sling, and he squeezed encouragingly. "There was a reason why I came by. My intentions weren't to make you cry."

She rubbed at her puffy eyes with her sleeve. "I'm sorry. I haven't been getting much sleep lately. With... working at the hospital and my studies and all..." Sakura chuckled, "I'm sure I'm quite a sight right now." She set her hands on her knees, suddenly aware of her bare thighs.

"You are quite a sight." Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, the hand that lingered on her arm reached up and teased a lock of silky hair.

Sakura found herself wanting Kakashi to erase the yawning gap between them. She found herself wanting his warmth. Wanting his hands. Wanting his mouth. She was so fixated on the subtle folds of his mask and where his mouth was that she hadn't heard what he had said. She blinked and drew her eyes to his, caught up in the intelligent, inky stare. Her breath stilled in her throat, and for a moment it was like she was floating, weightless, and the only thing that kept her from flying off was his fingers still pinching the soft, thick tendril of hair. "Wha...?"

"Are you paying attention, Naoru-san?" His voice was soft and low, muffled slightly in his mask.

"I am..." She whispered, slowly gravitating towards him.

Their breaths mingled as she leaned in closer. Her heart thumped in her chest, the blood rushed everywhere all at once causing her to feel heated and flushed. Kakashi obliterated the inches between their faces, his cheek rubbing against hers. The cloth was surprisingly soft, slightly damp from his breath but it felt like heaven against her overheated flesh. "I wanted to say..." His voice sounded husky against the delicate shell of her ear, causing her to bite back another shudder as the heat surged through her body again. "I'll fix this between us."

Not what she wanted him to say, and slightly perturbed by her own disappointment Sakura wondered idly what she had expected him to say? Her anger and hurt couldn't pierce the fog that had wrapped itself around her brain. She sat still, deathly still and prayed her wouldn't pull away as she soaked up his close proximity. "A-alright..." Sakura whispered softly, unsure of what else to say. Kakashi pulled away slightly, dragging his cheek across hers. The fabric of his mask was thin but Sakura was painfully aware of its presence as his mouth opened enough to accomodate her bottom lip. He nipped gently and despite the material, she could still feel his teeth as the pinched. It wasn't painful, in fact her singing nerves had reached a higher octave and now, her skin shivered with anticipation. She needed him- wanted him- had to have him! But her mind held her hands at bay, trapped in tiny, useless fists on her knees.

He withdrew and she felt disappointment stab at her daze. The pink-haired woman blinked away the fog and watched him as he stood to his full height and cram his free hand in his pocket. "Bye for now, Naoru-saaan!" Kakashi said, his visible eye closing as he grinned beneath his mask.

"Bye, Kakashi-san." Sakura mumbled, watching him leave.

When he had left and she was sure he was far enough away that he wouldn't hear her frustrated yell, she stomped up to her room and slammed the door. "What the hell was that?" Sakura stomped her foot on the hardwood floor, punching the air in front of her. He didn't have to invade her space like that— but he did. He didn't have to grab her hair— but he had. He didn't have to taunt her— but he was.

The after-affects of her run-in with Kakashi left a warm, heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She shifted from foot to foot, wondering what had gotten into her the last few days. Blaming it on her body and maybe the woman hormones running rampant through her system, she opted to take a shower instead of investigating further.

When she got out of her shower and had finished with her hair, Sakura found her answering machine blinking. Pressing the button, she let the message run through. It was Ino, wondering where she was. She sighed. What was she going to do? Her best friend was getting suspicious and Sakura couldn't help but admit that she missed her dear pig-girl. Hesitantly, she picked up the phone and dialled the Yamanaka residence.

"Moshimoshi!" Ino said happily.

"Uhm... Yamanaka-san... you just called Sakura... she would like to see you." Sakura stuttered, feeling awkward as she talked to her oblivious friend.

"Who is this?"

"You best come over to Sakura's home... and please, come alone."

"Okay, but this better not be some kind of prank." The blonde said promptly before hanging up the phone.

Sakura paced from her living room to the kitchen and back. Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang and she jumped, alarmed by the noise. Laughing at her foolishness, she walked to the door and opened it. "Come in, Ino-chan."

Ino eyed her as she walked through the doorway. She stepped out of her shoes and followed Sakura into the livingroom. "What's this about? Where's Sakura-chan?"

"Ino... you aren't going to believe this but I _am_ Sakura." Sakura grabbed her braid and began twisting it nervously, a habit she had developed recently.

"This is some kind of joke. Where the hell is she. If she put you up to this, I'll kick her ass." The kunoichi said, shifting her weight on one leg causing her hip to jut out. In one movement, she put her fist on her hip and glared at the nervous woman.

"It is me, honestly, Ino-chan!"

"If it's really you then, tell me something that only the two of us know."

"Remember the time when I caught you kissing Shikamaru and you told me that if I told anyone, you'd gouge my eyes out? We fought because I thought that you were betraying Sasuke, since the two of us have had crushes on him forever."

Ino huffed, "Shikamaru probably told you that."

"What about the time you put your mom's newest batch of magnolias in fridge but left the door open and you killed them all? You blamed the guy who had delivered them from the greenhouse, claiming they were faulty. Only you and I knew."

Her blue eyes grew wide in amazement. She stepped within arm's reach of her friend and pinched Sakura's cheek, yanking on the flesh painfully. Sakura slapped the hand away with a yelp. "Sakura? Is it really you?"

"Yes it's _me_!" She snapped, nursing her abused face. "Why'd you pinch me, stupid pig-girl?"

"You're old!"

"Shut up!" Sakura huffed, crossing her arms over her chest..

Blue eyes locked on her breasts and hands reached out, painfully poking. "Are those real?" She exclaimed as she stabbed another finger at Sakura.

Slapping Ino's hand away for the second time, Sakura yelled, "Of course they are, stupid! And poking at them _does_ hurt!"

"Heh heh. Looks like I can't call you forehead girl anymore. I'll just call you hooters instead!" The blonde crowed.

"I didn't call you over here to poke fun at me!" The pink haired girl cried, "I need your help. I-I have a problem!"

"Obviously! You're an old woman now. Sakura-baa-san!" Ino laughed.

Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. With a frustrated noise, Sakura sat on her couch and huddled in over her developed body. "Ino-chan, I'm serious."

The blonde stopped laughing and sat beside her friend. "What's going on, Sakura? What have you been doing for the past few months? I haven't seen you in forever."

"They think that I slept with Kakashi-sensei!" She blurted suddenly, unable to meet Ino's started gaze.

"Whhaaaat?" Ino cried, shocked.

"And Kakashi-sensei has been, like, egging them all on!"

"Whhaaaat?" She repeated.

"And-and he came over and... _almost-kissed-me-but-I-really-wanted-him-to_!" Sakura blurted the sentence, making it sound like one big word.

Ino sat back on the couch, watching her friend's shoulders heave as she started panicking. "You really wanted... _Kakashi-sensei_ to _kiss_ you? Kakashi-sensei? The same Kakashi-sensei that wears a mask, has silver hair, scar over one eye. Sharingan User? _That_ Kakashi-sensei? Like, _the_ Hatake Kakashi, infamous copy-nin? The one that reads _Icha Icha Paradise_ in public? That Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes that...that... one!" His name had been said all too many times for Sakura's liking.

"Whoa, slow down. What have you been up to these past few months, Sakura-chan?" Ino said, grasping Sakura's heaving shoulders and giving her a small shake.

The entire escapade, starting from her first experiments with the forbidden jutsu and ending with when Kakashi had left just a few hours ago took a couple hours to explain. She included Tsunade's explicit instructions to keep her true identity a secret and even her new jutsu that she was learning from the Hokage to get her body back to normal. "You can't tell anyone, Ino. I'm Naoru to everyone but a few people."

"Does Kakashi-sensei know?"

"Mou! Stop using his name!" Sakura cried. "And no, of course he doesn't know!"

"So what are you going to do about him?"

"I don't know. I just want the last few months to go away. This isn't natural– none of it!"

Ino snorted derisively, "Now, what part of our lives is normal, Sakura-chan? We know a guy who has bugs living inside of his body! And another that has normal conversations with his dog! What part of that is normal?"

"I just want to have a normal relationship. One that's completely reciprocated and consensual! With a man who isn't legendary something-or-other and certainly not with someone _fourteen_ years my senior." She wrapped her arms around her knees.

"If only things were that easy." Ino scoffed. "I don't know what to tell you, Sakura. But, don't be an idiot and ignore him. I wouldn't if I were you. He's hot, for an old guy." She wrinkled her nose distastefully.

"He's not hot, he's my teacher."

"No, he's your ex-teacher."

"It's still wrong." Sakura said weakly.

Ino shook her head, "No, wrong is clinging to a silly crush on a boy that is too lazy to even admit that he likes me too!"

Sakura gasped and stared at Ino, who blanched at her slip of the tongue. There was only one Shinobi in Konoha that was that lazy. "You and Shikamaru! Still?"

"What do you mean, still?"

"I saw you kissing him when we were fifteen!" Sakura laughed, relieved that they had turned the focus from her life to someone else's. "I thought that you were over that, Ino-chan?"

The blonde sighed, looking glum. "No. Stupid idiot won't even confess."

The talk turned to lighter things and soon, the house rang with laughter. Sakura leaned back from her perch on the edge of the couch and stretched her long legs. Ino eyed the line of her friend's body, a fine eyebrow arching upwards.

"Ya know, you could go to the bar." Ino grinned.

"And that's probably the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say— and I've heard a lot of stupid things come out of your mouth." Sakura grumped, tugging at her braid. "And besides, even if I went... if Shizune was there, I'd be in deep trouble."

"Shizune went on a mission two days ago. They aren't expecting her back for another two weeks."

"How do you know that?"

"Shikamaru's mom and dad went with her."

"Oh."

"You have to go!"

"But what if he's there?"

"So what! Go and have fun, Sakura-chan. You know, that thing where you laugh and feel good with other people— I'm sure you've forgotten but that's what fun is." Ino rolled her eyes at her friend's pained expression, "I think Tsunade-sama took that from you and locked it up. Go get it back!"

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN**- This chapter takes a solemn turn. Its written in Kakashi's POV. Sort of like a glimpse of how somber Kakashi really is-- given his official history, and all. Kakashi has suffered through a lot of angst and turmoil, which to me makes him even more beautiful and believable a character. Oh, and there is a reference to a Tim McGraw song in here. Just the title, that's all.

**Another note, I'm a stickler for music. I usually have soundtracks on my iRiver for each story that helps me get into that certain mood. It's something that helps me keep going with particularly long fics, like I see this one being. Anyways, the reason I mention this is because my soundtrack for 'Strawberry Secrets' begins with two songs-- _Natasha Beddingfield's 'I Bruise Easily'_ and _Soulstice's 'Falling for You'_. If you have suggestions, make them in the reviews.**

**Disclaimers: **Don't own it. Nope. Not one itty bitty bit.**  
**

**Chapter 5 **

Kakashi sat in his usual chair at the back of the bar. From his perch, he could see everything that was happening within the room and most importantly, he had his back to a wall. Being paranoid meant he stayed alive one day longer, even if he was eyebrow deep in the crème de la crème of Konoha Shinobi talent. More battle-weary ANBU found there way here to drown their sorrows than most people knew.

On Thursdays, the usual fun-loving crowd could be found at Kirin's for Karioke and cheap beer. It was not Kakashi's scene, especially when more than enough of his friends and colleagues had a penchant for screaming bad music at the top of their lungs. He'd never forgive the bloke who had come up with the lyrics, '_Living off of refried dreams._' Ick.

It was very rare that the Copy-nin allowed himself a drink in public. Drinking– consuming anything actually, entailed lowering his mask which he liked to avoid at all costs. Tonight was one of those nights where he needed something to assuage his bungled nerves, though. It had something to do with a deceptively innocent looking pink-haired kunoichi. He could still feel her lip trapped between his teeth and for the first time in a long time, he cursed the confines he had imposed on himself when adopting the mask. He tilted the glass back, and watched the ice clink as amber liquid poured into his mouth to bite at his tastebuds. Thankfully, it was bitter enough to wash away the taste of strawberries that had coated his tongue since he had kissed the woman.

Lifting his hand up to signal another drink at the bar, he then turned his gaze elsewhere. There were still a few people in the bar. They were the faithful patrons who preferred the mellow mood that usually shrouded the place. The faithful few that were nowhere to be seen on Friday Nights when it got insanely busy at the bar. The bartender walked over with his drink and waited as Kakashi fished out the proper coinage.

When the bartender had gone back behind the counter, Kakashi took up the glass and titled it slightly on it's coaster, watching the contents slide around. The dim light from the booth he was sitting at twinkled in the snifter, he felt the perspiration from the glass slide down and soak his fingertips.

Despite all the clothes he wore, Kakashi felt the freezing winter air push itself through the muggy bar. He looked up as the door slammed closed and waited for the person to show themself. She stood against the doorjamb and obviously scanned the sparse crowd. The lower part of her face was covered in a thick black, wooly scarf. She unravelled it and then pulled off her hat. The familiar gleam of pink hair was shook loose of its confines and tumbled around her heart-shaped face. As she walked further into the barroom, she unbuttoned her coat and hung it off the back of a chair before hopping onto it.

Kakashi's eyes slid from her back and back to his glass. Not even the trusty scour of double malt whiskey was going to get rid of the taste of strawberries tonight. Deeming his mission to get thoroughly inebriated as an utter failure, he pulled his mask up over his face and abandoned his half-empty glass. He slid up to the bar, trying to figure out what he was going to say to the woman who he suspected might be angry with him for his little display earlier that day. His shoulder ached as a reminder of his trespasses. _Let it ache, dammit_. He thought darkly as he settled on a stool beside her.

"Are you going to take it easy, tonight?" He asked, giving his best cheeky grin.

She glanced up at him and immediately began blushing. "I learned my lesson."

Unlike most of the women that he saw at bars, she didn't wear make-up. Maybe because she didn't have to. Her skin was like porcelain but with a nice pink hue to her sculpted cheekbones. She lowered her eyes to her own glass as she chewed her lip. "Don't do that." He said suddenly.

Lifting her head once more, she gave him a questioning glance, "Do what?"

"Blush so beautifully." _'Oh no, that just didn't slip out of your mouth, Hatake'_ his inner voice groaned. Why was she doing this to him? What had she done to make him say such stupid, insipid things?

She blushed more, if that was possible. "As long as you promise to not start with the comments." Naoru breathed against the rim of her glass.

Was it the alcohol that made him like this? He wondered as he watched her drink the rum-spiked beverage. She had set her gloves neatly by the coaster that her drink sat on. So neat and particular, like someone else he knew with identical pink hair. She was dressed in a pair of black slacks, her black shoes and modestly cut long sleeved shirt. Her hair hung loose around her shoulders, her long bangs were caught back in floppy knot that showed how much thought she had put in to her appearance. Waves and waves of pink hair cascaded down her back in silky curtains to cover her back and the back of the chair. It was impossibly long. He itched to wrap his hands in it- the same impulse he had almost given into that morning. Realizing that he had been staring at her far too long, he turned his head to the bartender and ordered another drink. He wasn't going to drink it, but he wanted a reason to prolonge his departure. Strangely enough, he found his eyes sliding back to her, drinking in her presence like the finest liquor.

"Stop staring at me." She said in a small voice.

He smiled and tore his eyes away from the woman. He felt guilty for making her uncomfortable, but at the same time couldn't help but just watch her to see what other things she would do. Like a puzzle where there were innumerable secrets, he found himself wanting to turn her over and over in his hands until he figured her out completely. It was a rather destructive habit and most likely the main reason he was still single. Women, he figured, just didn't like being figured out. But once he had understood his unfortunate partner, he quickly lost interest. _God, I need a drink_, his inner voice groaned and before he could stop himself he hooked one finger under his mask and dragged it down onto his chin so that he could take a drink of his whisky.

"You can stop staring at me, now." He grinned down at her, holding the mask in front of his face to obstruct the bartender's quick glance.

She blinked and turned her head back to her drink. "I'm sorry."

Throwing back the drink with the ease of someone who had been drinking for years, Kakashi hitched his mask back up over his face and grabbed her coat. Shaking it out, he held it out for her and said, "Come with me."

"I don't think that's a good idea." She mumbled.

"There's no one here who cares about what we do, Naoru. Come with me." He said, unusually solemn in his command.

As if having no control over her body, she watched herself get off the chair and slide into the jacket. He picked up her mitts as she did up her jacket and handed them to her. After her scarf and hat were in place they walked out the door and into the dark snowy night.

He watched her from the corner of his eye as she tilted her head back and opened her mouth, her tongue peaked out to catch an errant snowflake. A completely innocent, childish action and it was the most womanly thing he'd ever seen. He smiled and tilted his head back, feeling the cold, wet bits of fluff land on his bare skin. They walked down the street, looking up and completely disregarding where their feet landed. He knew where they were going and had tread the path a million times before. Each stone, crook, cranny and curb was familiar to him.

"Where are we going, Kakashi-san?" She asked, her voice shattering the heavy winter silence.

"Does it matter?" The question went undebated, they walked on and let the tension grow between them.

When finally Kakashi stopped, they were in the training grounds. He brushed away the snow that had gathered on his favourite sitting spot overlooking the entire village of Konoha. "Just as I thought." He said as he settled himself.

"What?" The woman asked, her face still directed towards the soft glow of the village's many lights.

"It's even more beautiful in the snowfall."

Naoru turned and smiled at him. "It _is_ beautiful."

His free arm reached out and caught her wrist, pulling her into the warmth of his embrace. She settled with her back against his chest, wresting her head in the junction of his neck and shoulder. Neither spoke but shared a million different fleeting sensations as they counted the snowflakes.

Naoru reached out with one gloved hand and let one flake land on her finger. She brought it close to her face to inspect it. "Do you know that not one Snowflake is ever the same?"

Having an excuse to bow his head down and bury his face into the collar of her coat, he looked at the small flake that was slowly melting into the fabric of her glove. "Oh?"

She smiled and turned in his arms to look at his face. "Yes, and all snowflakes of six sides."

The snowflakes had caught in her long lashes, her cheeks were rosy from the cold and her breath rose in even puffs, tantalizing his nose with the slight scent of strawberries. "That's interesting." He was honestly enraptured by the woman as she tilted her head back and exposed the long, delicate column of neckto catch another snowflake in her open mouth. He let go of her waist and touched her chin, causing her to lower her face to his. The transformation from woman-child to full out sensual woman took place in a simple, swiping gesture. Her hand came up, hooking a finger in his mask to drag it down.

His breath caught in his throat as anticipation crackled across his chilled skin. She leaned in, ever so lightly brushing a cold cheek against his. Not what he had expected, but the effect was just the same. It left him breathless and excited. He watched motionlessly as she brushed winter-chilled lips against his, leaning further into his embrace. Somehow sensing that if he pushed her, she would break, he reined in all of his self-control to let her make her simple, innocent explorations. Her hands cupped the sides of his face as she rained kisses on his face.

"Naoru." He whispered, gently tugging the hat off of her head so that he could see the long locks of pink hair. Running his hand through it, it felt like live, warm silk to touch. He pulled back and watched her face in contrast to the dark winter night and the snowflakes drifting lazily around her.

Their lips crashed together, a far cry from the gentle, chaste kisses she had given him before. She tugged at the front of his flak jacket as if trying to get closer. Her fist bunched the material, straining as she clenched her hand tighter. Their tongues met like quicksilver, brashly and boldly touching between lips that seemed like they wanted to meld together. Rendered breathless by her sudden change, he felt her pull away and break from the grasp he had on her hip. "Oh god, I can't do this!" She whispered gently, her voice caught on the rising wind.

She was an unpredictable maelstrom, reaping havoc on his senses. He stood, ready to dash after her if she decided to bolt. He wasn't going to let her go, he needed to find... he needed his release. He wanted to be done with her so that he could return to his old, familiar routines. His colourless and emotionless existence. She was a dash of colour in his grayscale painting, an obscene mark on the canvas of his live-by-the-rules life.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi but I can't do this." Naoru's words were pained as she backed away from him. "Not with you."

He watched numbly as she ran and he silently screamed for his feet to move after her. When finally her back was engulfed in the shadows cast by the trees, and he could no longer hear her footsteps rasping in the snow, Kakashi moved. Pushing the mask back into place, he found himself gazing out at his beloved village. The colour, the blip on his grey painting slowly faded back and although he felt a profound sense of loss for it, he hoped that it would come back soon.

**TBC **


	7. Chapter 7

**AN:** I hate being one of those annoying writers that whine about lack of reviews, but I'm going to say that I'm not putting up another chapter until I see 30 reviews! I know that there are lots of people reading it by the looks of the hits, but it doesn't take long to just click on review and say if you liked it. It takes a lot of courage to put a story up and although I write for my own benefit, reviews and appreciation are gravy--but much wanted gravy!

Other notes of importance; I skipped the whole bit about Tsunade helping Sakura back into her 17-year-old form because it would have taken too long and this wasn't entirely about that. This is about Kakashi and Sakura lovin' and I've digressed enough as it is. This chapter is Sakura-centric, though and I had to go into some medical detail. I cut down on the fancy doctor jargon though.

ANBU has an integral part to play, as well. Since they are a pretty shady organization (especially for those who haven't even dived into the Naruto II arc) I excersized some poetic license.

Kisses and hugs to all those who reviewed! Shout-out to_ slappy-chan, ShortySC22, Chiratsuku, Polariss, sakura13pisces, CHICA DE LA LUNA FANTASMA, Sayomi-sama, Inuyashafeudalgirl _and_ flame gazer_!

**Disclaimers: **All characters, besides Akiko, Tami and Maki are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. I'm not making any money off of this, although I'm sure Masashi-san is.

**Chapter 6**

After the drama that had ensued of the past few weeks because of her adult form, Sakura should have been happy to get back to her normal self. She sat in the corner of the staff lunch room and pressed a finger up against the frosted glass, watching the ice melt around her fingertip. For some strange reason, since getting back to normal, she felt that something was strangely missing. Whatever it was, it was making her slip deeper into a depression with no end in sight.

"Hey, Sakura-chan." Akiko said softly, a warm hand pressing on her forearm. "Is everything okay? Do you want to talk to Maki-sensei about going home early?" The medic-nin asked.

"No," Her green gaze left the window and travelled to the nurse's kindly face. She smiled before saying, "I'm okay. I need to finish my volunteer hours."

"You are already ahead by forty hours, Sakura-chan." Akiko pointed out.

She shrugged, "I'll just bank them for when I need them." Sakura stood and stretched, glancing at her watch as she lifted her arms over her head. "Time to get back to work."

The hospital was quiet. It had snowed virtually non-stop for the past two weeks causing everything in the village to grind to a halt. So if no one was going outside then that meant that no one was getting hurt in training, which cut down on their injuries by more than half. There was still a small percentage of mission injuries but there hadn't been anything serious for a while. The staff was getting bored and when the medical staff got bored, they usually got carried away. Their antics could be heard from a vacant examiners room where they were watching a movie that had come on the television. Sakura walked by the room and glanced inside, seeing one young medic-nin with a bedpan on his head tossing a wad of bandages at an unsuspecting orderly. Mostly harmless pranks and comradery brought them closer together, another reason why Sakura enjoyed the life of a medic-nin so much.

"Sakura, there you are." Tsunade's stern voice echoed down the hall. Sakura looked up the hall and saw the Hokage walking full tilt ahead with Tonton and Shizune in tow.

"Tsunade-sama." Sakura bowed to her teacher respectfully.

"I've been looking for you everywhere." The blonde woman huffed, "I have a mission for you."

"What is it?"

"Search and rescue. Seems that some of our men were coming home from a mission and were caught in an avalanche. ANBU is going but we need a medic on hand. There might be some injuries, we don't know how critical though."

"So you want to send me?" Sakura asked faintly, "But what if they _are _critical?"

"We have faith in your abilities, Sakura." The Godaime said encouraging, squeezing her shoulder. "And if you do well, we might even consider starting you on some missions as a medic-nin."

Sakura grinned, "Alright!"

"Alright, no time to lose. Get ready and meet the team out at the gates. You better be ready to keep up with them."

Not even twenty minutes later and Sakura was standing at the only exit to Konoha, wrestling with the mammoth-sized butterflies threatening to erupt from her stomach. ANBU! She was going on her first serious mission as a medic-nin and she was going with none other than the legendary _Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai_!

"You are the medic-nin?" A soft, muffled voice asked behind her.

She jumped and whirled around, coming face to face with a man who had a wolf mask on. He was swathed in a heavy black cloak that was loose enough not to constrict his movements. The hilt of his sword was visible over his left shoulder. "Yes I am."

"Put this on. You can't stand out, you'll be a target for anyone who might be waiting." He handed her a black bundle. She pulled the pack apart and put on the cloak, it was warmer than she had imagined. She stroked the fur lining, it was black wolf fur and smelled slightly musky. She took the mask that looked suspiciously like an otter's face. She glanced at the unmoving ANBU member before donning it and tying the ribbons to hold it in place. The hood went up, covering her pink hair and effectively warming her already chilled ears.

"You will keep up." A statement and not a question that brooked no argument. "Listen to what I say and that means if I say to scatter, you scatter. Don't be a hero and try to fight. A dead ninja is a useless one."

The journey was quick but left Sakura's legs feeling wobbly. They stood at the base of the mountain two hours later and she looked up at the loose snow that decked the side of the mountain. None of the ANBU team had spoken to her since their departure; in fact, the only ANBU she had seen was the one in the wolf mask. She had sensed the other three fleetingly, but if she hadn't definitely known that they were around her, she would have doubted their presence.

"They are up there, according to our tracker." Wolf-mask spoke, pointing up to a ledge that was barely visible through the snow.

A simple exercise in expanding her chakra and sweeping it over the side of the mountain like a radar and she sensed the faint throb of two balls of chakra, too big and powerful to be an animal. "There's two of them and it's faint."

Wolf-mask nodded, lifting up a hand to signal the unseen entities that camouflaged themselves in the trees. Another shrouded individual appeared at his side, wearing the mask of a bear. "Recce reports there was a squad of four in the area a couple of hours ago. They found someone dead. His throat cut out. One of ours."

"Take her into the trees and have the other two sweep the area. Don't come out until I come for you. They are still here."

"But I didn't sense them." Sakura spoke up, worried that any moment lost in fruitless persuit of an enemy long-gone could lead to the death of whoever was caught in the snow.

"Don't argue. Just do it." Wolf-mask said calmly.

She wanted to argue more but felt his stare behind his mask. She reluctantly followed Bear-mask into the woods and squatted down in the hollow of a tree. Bear-mask disappeared immediately after she got herself settled but she could feel his presence regardless. An hour later and the forest was deathly still. Her feet were cold, she tried to channel chakra into them to keep them from freezing but got a curt warning– a shuriken aimed closely to her head. So instead of using her chakra, she rubbed at them desperately from beneath the warm fur lined cloak.

Bear-mask appeared suddenly in front of her, his large body blocking her from the approaching stranger.

"It's safe now." A voice said from beneath a rabbit mask.

Without a word Bear-mask launched a kunai at his fellow teammate. The blow was anticipated and Rabbit-mask drew his sword before attacking. Sakura pulled out a kunai but was too confused to see what was going on. Why was Bear-mask attacking Rabbit-mask? She stayed out of the fight, but gripped her weapon as the silent battle raged on in front of her.

Bear-mask took a swipe across the chest, Sakura could hear Rabbit's blade scrape across the plates in his flak jacket. Bear was barely able to deflect another sword swipe but had managed to get out a shuriken and throw it at Rabbit. It hit the left shoulder and stuck, soon the black material was shiny as the blood soaked through. The injury didn't stop the attacker but had rendered his left arm useless. The battle was too near for the ANBU to use Genjutsu as it required both hands to preform the seals, which were currently holding the hilt of his sword.

Clapping her hands together, Sakura performed her own ninjutsu. With a deep breath, she launched herself at the fighting pair, her hand lashing out at the Rabbit-masked ANBU member. With surprise as the main element to her attack, Rabbit-mask was caught off guard. She drove the tips of her fingers into his right shoulder, solar plexus, groin and both thighs in a movement so fast that it could barely be followed. He dropped to the ground like a sack of bricks as his muscles were severed completely. She realized that by hitting his solar plexus with the powerful attack, she had severed his heart as well. With one full twitch and a rattling sigh, Rabbit-mask lay still.

"I just killed him!" Sakura said in shock, staring at Bear-mask who wiped the snow and blood from his blade with the fallen man's cloak. "Why? Why did I kill an ANBU?"

"You didn't kill an ANBU." Bear-mask grunted, pulling off the mask to reveal the very dead face with the sound-nin hitai-ate tied around his forehead. "Our leader said he would be the one to come for us when everything is alright."

She watched Bear-mask sheath his sword, the susurrus of the blade sliding home made her shiver. That sound would surely haunt her for the rest of her life, she thought grimly. "Is this a trap?"

"Yes." Bear-mask nodded, "We suspected that the sound-nin were using our trapped men to flush out more Leaf-nin to kill. They have been doing this for quite some time now."

"Sound-nin have been attacking our men and we've been doing nothing about it?" Sakura asked, again shocked.

He shook his head, "We have. ANBU has been taking care of it"

"So we are just letting them attack us? We aren't doing anything about it? Shouldn't we be appealing to someone, or- I don't know, doing something?" The Kunoichi asked, feeling helpless.

"Like what? This is what war is about, young woman." She felt ashamed of her ignorance. "Did you think it would be loud and full of clashing swords? Screaming? No. Our wars are fought in the shadows, as silently and efficiently as possible. Without the knowledge of the public."

"You've been fighting and we don't know anything about it... you've all been giving your lives and we don't even..." She trailed off, recalling the last time she had visited the memorial rock. More names had appeared on it, names that she hadn't recalled being there before. She realized why there had been no mention of the additions to the rock.

Wolf-mask appeared in a blur of black cloak. "It's okay. We suffered a few casualties but most of them are dead or have fled. We are pursuing them right now. This is the chance to get our men out of those caves."

Sakura nodded and followed the two visible men to the foot of the mountain. There were already ANBU members on the ledge, blasting away at the rock and snow that had formed a barrier over the mouth of the cave. When she climbed up to the working ANBU members, she helped as best she could.

"Can I use my chakra, now?" She asked Wolf-mask who stood behind her, watching the others work.

"Yes."

"Then stand back, everyone." She said, clapping her hands together. Her mind had already worked out the solution to the problem. The ledge was holding the heavy snow and rocks, her eyes followed the pathway. "I suggest you all get off this ledge and away from mountain. I'm going to knock the ledge away."

The ANBU members dispersed and when Sakura had deemed it safe enough she took a deep breath to help channel the chakra to her arms. Crouching down, she laced her hands and brought them over her head. With a shout, powering as much of her energy as she could into her muscles, she slammed her hands down on the ground, simultaneously releasing the chakra. With one quick push, she threw herself off the side of the mountain as the avalanche rumbled down the steep slope. Powerful arms wrapped around her waist as she plummeted through the air, she knew she was safe with the ANBU around her. Wolf-mask settled her on a branch and they watched the snow and debris settle at the foot of the mountain.

The remaining ANBU quickly made it to the mouth of the cave. Inside, there were four bodies, two of which were frozen and dead, but the remaining two where still clinging to life, just barely. One, a badger-masked individual reached down to pick up one of the unconscious ninja. "NO! DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Sakura yelled. "Don't touch him. He has severe hypothermia. If you jostle him, you'll kill him."

"But he needs to be in a warm place." Badger-mask insisted.

"Listen, you guys fought your war. This one is mine. Leave this to me." She said harshly as she placed her hands over the chest of the other unconscious man. "If you want to be a help, loosen his belt, bandages or whatever might be restricting blood flow. We need to get their blood circulating properly." Warmth licked up her arms, she pushed it gently into his the unconscious man's torso. She closed her mind and focussed on his heartbeat, listening to its irregular, faint beating. A few hours later, she was interrupted by a stern voice. "We've got to hurry up, there is a storm coming."

Sakura nodded. "He's almost ready to be transported." His heartbeat was stronger and he showed some signs of life. "Take him but be careful. Don't jostle him. It'll cause his heart to stop."

An ANBU member took the unconscious man and Sakura moved onto the next. She pushed her hands beneath the cover of his shirt, resting her palms against chilled skin. Quickly, the chakra pulsed between her hands and his flesh before bleeding into his body. Sakura slowly warmed the blood, a process that took a while since warming too quickly would cause temperature shock.

"We've got to hurry." Wolf-mask said, his face turned to the opening of the cave where a few wisps of snow floated downwards.

"I can't hurry this and we can't move him. If we do, it'll cause his heart to stall. I can't speed up because he'll go into temperature shock."

"Then leave him. We can't afford to lose anymore men."

"No! I will not leave him!" She yelled angrily. "If you are so worried about losing more men then you go."

Wolf-mask turned to his men, "Give her your cloaks." He ordered as he took his own off, "And build a fire for her. Collect wood and if you have food, leave it here. We don't know how long this storm will go on for."

The men left but not before covering up the front of the cave with a stone wall technique, leaving enough room at the top of the entrance for the smoke from the fire to escape. They had taken the frozen corpses of the fallen-nin with them. She had a chance to glance at them, half dreading the possibility of recognizing any of them. None of them were familiar to her, but her relief was soon chased away by her guilt. It didn't matter who they were, they were Leaf-nin and their deaths could have been prevented. Shaking her head, she turned back to the shinobi that lay beneath her hands. He had painstakingly been moved onto the thick bed of cloaks that three ANBU members had provided.

His skin was losing it's bluish touch as she urged the slowly warming blood to his major organs. She glanced up at his face, Sakura realized belatedly who she was touching. "K-kakashi!" She cried.

The ANBU teams had pulled his mask away from his face, it lay loosely around his neck. His hitai-ate was on the floor beside his head. She hadn't recognized him at first because his telltale silvery hair was covered by a thick, woolen toque that was pulled down over his left eye. Obviously, when someone had put the hat on his head, they knew that he always kept that eye covered. She found her focus dwindling as the panic and fear started to rise.

"Focus, Sakura!" She hissed, freeing one hand to yank the mask off of her face.

Renewing her efforts, Sakura took a deep breath and slowed down her heart, which she was using to sync Kakashi's irregular heartbeat. Another hour and the cave had gotten darker as night settled in. The fire was dying and slowly the cold was starting to seep back in through the hole at the top. She left him for a moment, feeding the fire some more wood that the ANBU had collected before returning. With a silent prayer, she went back to her careful ministrations.

When finally she had done all she could and night had settled in, Sakura wrapped the Jounin warmly in all the cloaks she could find and then went to sit by the fire. She was tired, very tired. The non-stop action from this afternoon and the heavy usage of her chakra were taking its toll. She ate only because she knew that she needed sustenance in order to maintain her strength but after finishing the rice ball, she realized if she fell asleep they would risk losing the fire and both of them would end up dying of hypothermia.

She carefully dragged Kakashi's body over to the fire and then settled under the covers, shivering as she did so. She had divulged the man of his flak jacket and sweater, both of which had been frozen. Sakura kept her t-shirt on for the sake of her modesty but had taken off both cloak, sweater and pants in attempts to share as much body heat as possible. She put on the knitted cap that wolf-mask had given her and wrapped her arms around Kakashi's torso. With one last prayer, a promise to god that if she and Kakashi got out of this alive, she'd set things right between the two them, Sakura fell asleep.

**TBC**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:** Some Sakura cuteness up ahead. Sorry for the delay... erm... I was distracted over the weekend. My boyfriend is in the army and he came in from the field for the weekend, so I was caught with him. :) Anyways, I'm sure you don't want to know about that. But that's my excuse! I forsee this wrapping up in the next four chapters. This is officially one of the longest stories that I have ever written! Thanks for all the encouragement! It means a lot to me!

**Disclaimers:** Don't own it. The only profit I get is shirking my chores. :D And that's good enough for me.

**Chapter 7**

Her bum was cold and instinctively, she squirmed to the spot where it was the warmest. Her chilled fundament bumped up against something solid and warm. She sighed happily, finding relief and slipped back to sleep.

She was having an odd dream. A dream about wearing a pair of pants where the seat was made out of hands. She frowned, wiggling her bottom as the sensation of fingers squeezed. Slowly Sakura woke but the feeling persisted. She attempted to roll onto her back but found herself trapped against a warm, moving wall. Cracking her eyes open, ever so slightly, she peered up at the slumbering face of her former sensei and then she realized why the sensation of her buttocks being squeezed hadn't gone away. With a yelp, she swatted his hands away and sat up, glaring daggers at the man.

"What are you doing?" She shrieked.

"You're bottom was cold, so I thought I would return the favour and help you warm it." Kakashi said pleasantly.

He sat up and the cloaks pooled around his waist, leaving him mostly exposed to the chilly air. "Get something on, I don't want you catching hypothermia again!" She ordered, thrusting the sweater in his face.

Nodding, Kakashi stood and again. Sakura screeched, "You _are_ a pervert!" Voicing her convictions anew, she pointed at his erection straining against the crotch of his pants. "You were feeling me up in my sleep and you liked it!"

"What? This?" He pointed downwards and grinned, "That's normal, Sakura-chan! Every man experiences this in the morning! It's called a morning w–"

"I DON'T WANT TO KNOW! ECCHI!" She wrapped the cloaks around her body and scooted as far away from him as the cave would accommodate.

Kakashi chuckled as he tightened belts and buckles, replaced his mask and hitai-ate. He stoked the fire and squatted in front of it, spreading his hands close enough that the flames licked at the palms of his gloves. "The snow still hasn't stopped yet." He sighed, looking up at the small hole that the ANBU had left in the jutsu-made cave lid.

While his back was turned, Sakura had managed to slip back into her pants and sweater. She was pulling on her boots when he turned and smiled at her. "I think we should wait here for a while." He said as he settled down on the mattress made up of three separate cloaks. "We'll wait to see if the storm stops soon."

"I think we should get moving. There's no sense sitting in this cave. We have more than enough protection against the cold." Sakura said reasonably.

"Yes but the wind is strong enough on these peaks that it would more than likely blow you off a ledge."

"Oh."

The duo lapsed into silence, listening to the wind howling angrily over the mountain. "Sakura-chan, I seemed to have met a relative of yours." he said suddenly.

She mentally cringed, "Oh?"

"Yes." Kakashi nodded, "When did she study at the academy?"

"Study?" She echoed faintly.

"She's a medic-nin."

"Oh." Sakura watched his profile in the soft light of the fire. His hair caught the light, reflecting it softly. The gold painted across the smooth contours of his face and the material that bound it. She found herself mesmerized by his attractiveness. "Uhm... yes. Well, she studied... uh... 15 years ago."

"And she's what? Twenty-four? Twenty-five?"

Sakura shrugged, unwilling to talk to the man about her secret identity. "I don't want to talk about her." She said softly.

Kakashi nodded and pulled out his handy _Icha Icha Paradise_. He stretched his legs out and crossed them at the ankle. He leaned back against the cave wall and rested the arm not holding his book, against a stone. His head tilted to the side and rested on his knuckles.

She was still a bit groggy from using up most of her chakra. The night hadn't been kind to her, but neither had Kakashi, who she found out was a habitual blanket-hog as well as an all-around pervert. She curled against the wall, opposite of Kakashi. With the fire's warmth against her face, she sighed and tried to go back to sleep.

A hand clamped around her mouth, stifling the scream from her mouth. She found herself dragged deeper into the cave, farther away from the opening. The fire had been hastily kicked out, casting them into a painful darkness and leaving Sakura even more panicked than when she woke.

"Someone is out there." Kakashi's voice said softly in her ear. "It's not one of ours. He's looking for us."

She nodded, clamping her lips closed as he removed the iron-like grip from her mouth. Touching her lips experimentally, Sakura figured that they'd be bruised in the morning. "What do we do?" She asked quietly.

"Just pray that they don't see the smoke hole. I'm sure that it was the smell of the wood burning that attracted them to begin with. They must be desperate if they are up on this mountain in such a storm."

"What would they want?"

"I don't know but I'm in no position to find out, either. I'm still drained from the hypothermia."

And she was drained from treating two men's hypothermia. Almost to the point where she still could barely feed her mark and maintain her body even after a few hours sleep. "What are we going to do?"

"Deeper down in the cave, there's an underground river. It leads to the valley of ends. We can get down there and follow the river out. It'll be quite a few miles, but it's better than sitting in here, waiting to be caught."

Sakura nodded and buttoned up one of the cloaks, making a bundle out of the rest. "Let's go then." She said softly.

They picked their way down the cave, the sound of rushing water got louder and louder. Quickly, the retreated to the water's edge and glanced out across the inky water. The chakra it took to keep themselves above water was a minimal effort, but in their weakened state they knew that they'd only get a few miles before they couldn't hold themselves up anymore.

Up river they went, wobbling as exhaustion took its toll and caused their footing to slip. More than once, Sakura found herself sinking if she lingered too long. The brisk pace that Kakashi had set was also punishing her overtaxed body. She staggered and fell against Kakashi's back. "I can't go any further, Kakashi-sensei." She whispered.

He scooped her up and carried her a few more miles before exhaustion took its affect on him too. They found a nook in the cave wall that was big enough for the both of them. Kakashi hoped that the water wouldn't rise and drown them while they slept, before he laid out the blankets and plunked Sakura down before crawling in himself.

Kakashi woke her up with a nudge to the shoulder. She got out of bed and wordlessly wrapped up their bundle before moving on. She kept glancing behind her, half expecting to see someone behind her but there never was. She dug out the last bit of food, a crust of bread with some cheese before handing the largest chunk over to him. The food would have a great effect on her ailing reserves of energy, and she ate it with that in mind, drink periodically from the chilled river that ran beneath her feet.

"Get behind the rock." He ordered suddenly, pulling out a kunai.

She listened and scrambled to find a spot where she could watch both ends of the river and Kakashi. Sakura pulled out her own knife and they waited. For a while, all they heard was the steady roar of the rushing water, but Sakura had complete faith in Kakashi's ability to know when they were in danger. It came in the form of a half-dozen shuriken, whistling through the air and splashing into the water that Kakashi dodge from. The attacker appeared, one of water country's missing-nin, and he grinned as he sank below the depths of the water. Kakashi pulled off his hitai-ate and scanned the water calmly. The contrast of inky black eye to scarlet was disturbing to Sakura, who watched him intently. It was only when hands, as cold and as wet as a fish's belly, wrapped around her throat, did she pull her eyes from him.

"Kakashi!" She strangled out, gasping for air as the hand tightened.

Sakura found herself whipped around like a rag doll. She sailed through the air and slammed up against a rock wall, the sharp juts digging painfully into her back, causing all the air to rush from her lungs. She landed on the narrow, steep bank. The cold water bit at her legs, causing her to shiver but she was too dazed and hurt to realize what was going on.

The fight ended quickly and with relative ease. He silently berated himself for letting the water-nin get to Sakura. Kakashi turned and found her laying on the bank with the lower half of her body bobbing in the current. He carefully turned her over and pushed away the clumps of wet, pink hair that clung to her face. "Sakura." He said softly, picking her up out of the water.

It took Kakashi an extra four hours to get out of the underground cavern. The watery sunlight bit at his visible eye as he tried to adjust to the light. He had wrapped Sakura tightly in the bundle that had miraculously stayed dry, thanks to the tight weave and water resistant material it was made out of. She shivered still, the water was slowly lowering her temperature. He knew that if he didn't get her to someplace warm, she'd die.

He fished in his back pouch for a vial that held small, dark pellets. Eating a few, he waited for them to take in affect before moving forward. When it came, he moved in a powerful burst of speed that left snow and dead leaves swirling in his wake. At this rate, he knew it would take him a day and a half to reach Konoha but it was a day and a half that he didn't think his young ex-pupil had.

When the last of the soldier pills were taken, he was only a half day's reach from the village but he could go no further. Before his legs collapsed beneath him, he tucked Sakura into an abandoned hut where there was a rickety old bed in the corner. The person who had stayed before hadn't used up all the firewood, which he was thankful for. Kakashi set a fire and pulled off Sakura's wet clothes before dragging the mattress closer to the fire and collapsing beside her. Using their cloaks as blankets, Kakashi pulled the shivering bundle of soft flesh and damp, pink hair to his chest and gently stroked the back of her neck, massaging the tense muscles and warming her skin with his own body heat. Soon she relaxed in his arms, her breathing turned deep. The sound of it soothed Kakashi's own worries and he brushed his lips against her forehead, feeling her warmth from beneath the thin material of his mask.

**TBC **


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: **This was all one big chapter but I broke it down because as I said earlier, I personally don't like huge chapters. Hope you like it. More coming soon.

** Disclaimers:** Still apply. Don't own it and don't profit from it.

**Chapter 8 **

It was like deja vu. She woke, her bottom was cold and she squirmed until it found a warm spot. This time, it wasn't hands that shoved her back to reality, but a set of narrow hips grinding powerfully into hers. The hands that had woken her last time, were wrapped strongly around her body and holding her in place against his chest. She found herself embarrassingly naked, the exposed flesh of her thighs rubbing against his own. Only wearing her undershirt and panties, Sakura looked around for the rest of her clothing and found it folded and sitting near the fire, resting atop Kakashi's flak vest.

She pushed the blankets aside with every intention of getting out and putting on her clothes but the arms resisted. They tensed as she tried to push them off. Turning her head to gaze into his face, she was shocked to see that he had pushed away his mask, it now hung limply around his neck. She remembered the touch of those lips against her in the dead of wintry night. She remembered how he lovingly caressed her with that mouth. And painfully, she realized that he truly thought he had been kissing someone else and not her. So maybe that kiss hadn't been hers? It had been Naoru's and she had no right to claim it.

Feeling guilty for having deceived her sensei, Sakura stilled her struggles and laid in his arms. He murmured something soft in his sleep, nuzzling his face in the crook of her neck. She turned in his arms and pressed her face against his naked chest, inhaling his scent. Then, she listened to the steady rhythm of his heart, the sound of its beating reassuring her.

Belatedly, it dawned on her that he should have been up and moving. She glanced up into his face and realized that he was so far gone in his exhaustion that nothing short of a bomb going off beside his head would have woken him. How had they escaped the water-nin that were hunting them? When had the left the caverns?

When finally her curiosity would no longer allow her to sit still, she squirmed out of his grasp and pulled on her clothes. Peeking out the dirty window on the other side of the room, she realized that they weren't far from Konoha and that it was snowing– again. He had travelled over 300 miles in a matter of a day? No wonder he was tired.

With every intention of cooking him a good, fresh breakfast instead of another dried ration of meat and bread, Sakura went in search of the necessities. The terrain was now somewhat familiar to her, and she knew there was a farmstead close by. She bought eggs, bacon and some rice from the farm, paying much more than was necessary out of gratefulness. When back at the hut, she quietly went about cleaning out a place for her to cook the food. With a flat stone over the fire, she cooked the bacon and the eggs after she had managed to find a pot to boil her rice in. When finally she was done, she turned to Kakashi, who had slept the entire time and gently nudged him awake.

"Kakashi-sensei." She said softly, her lips by his ear.

He woke slowly, his belly growling as the smell of bacon tantalized him. "You cooked, Sakura-chan?"

"Of course." The young woman said, flashing him a triumphant smile. "I let you sleep as I gathered some food from a nearby farm."

"Thank you." He said, accepting the bounty of food.

She moved off to get her own, leaving him to eat his fill in peace. "It's snowing out but I don't think it's bad enough to keep us from finishing our travels. Once you're done, we'll start back, right?"

"You are eager to get home?" He asked between bites of egg, rice and bacon.

"Mom and dad were leaving again to go visit my grandmother in Bird country."

"Is that where Naoru is from?"

Kakashi chose not to acknowledge the pained look on the young woman's face, instead he bowed his head and concentrated on his meal. If she didn't answer him, then he'd wonder but maybe what he was unwittingly doing was digging up some family rivalry or past pain? Shrugging it off as mere speculation, he waited patiently for her answer.

"Y-yeah. In Bird Country. Where her... fiancee is."

"She's getting married?"

"Soon." She nodded, unable to meet his eye.

"Who is he?"

"What does it matter?" Sakura asked angrily, "Why do you care? You only knew her for a little bit! Not like you've known—" She stopped abruptly and turned her head away, no longer hungry.

"Like what? You? "

"Yes... me."

He had wondered that himself, numerous times. Why had Naoru, a virtual stranger, had such an affect on him? He shouldn't have cared that she had left— but he had. He couldn't get her out of his head. "I'm sorry, Sakura but you're just..."

"What? Too young?" Tears glittered in her eyes.

"Don't cry, Sakura. I'm sorry but, yes, you are too young."

She laughed, "Do you think I'm crying because I'm sad? No... I'm crying because I'm angry! I'm angry that you had to go and fall for someone as stupid as Naoru! I honestly thought better than you, Kakashi!" In her anger, she had forgotten the customary prefix. Sakura trundled along, gathering momentum as she went. "And it would please you to know that she doesn't exist!"

"What do you mean, she doesn't exist?" He asked, genuinely confused.

Sakura clamped her mouth shut. "Nothing!" She squeaked.

It was too late, Kakashi's curiosity had been aroused. Rearing its ugly head, it smelled intrigue and an admission that the girl only half-spilled. His inky gaze narrowed and he set the plate aside. "Sakura, what is it that you're not telling me."

"I'm not allowed to say! Tsunade-sama swore me to secrecy."

"Spill it, Sakura." He snapped, exhaustion and the girl's uncharacteristic insolence was fraying at his almost non-existent nerves.

She grabbed her cloak and dashed out the door in a swirl of wind and snow. She pushed herself hard and within a few hours, found herself standing in front of Tsunade's desk, dutifully reporting the events that had taken place.

"And where is Kakashi?"

"I'm right here."

Both women turned and regarded the silver-haired jounin with identical expressions of scrutiny. If he hadn't been in such a bad mood, he would have found this funny but Sakura's presence only managed to further agitate.

"How are you feeling, Kakashi-san?" Tsunade asked.

"I'm fine."

"Sakura tells me that you had a bit of a problem with some water-nin, back at the valley of end?"

"Not really." He shrugged, his characteristic boredom masking his turbulent thoughts.

"Fine. Go home and get some rest, I'll hear your report tomorrow." The Hokage said, already submersed in her reading.

The two left, walking down the hall side by side. Neither spoke and the tension between them was almost so thick that they could have cut it with a knife. They parted ways at the door without saying goodbye.

"Sakura-chaaaaaaaaan!" A familiar voice yelled down the street.

Sakura turned and watched Naruto dash towards her, waving his arms frantically. "Hey, Naruto. How's it been?"

"Haven't seen you in a while!" He said happily, "I'm going for ramen, wanna come?"

"Sure, I'll come." Having only ate a partial meal that morning and travelling heavily, it left her stomach growling angrily. "You're buying, though."

His smile didn't falter, he agreed enthusiastically, "It's a date then!"

In Ichiraku's they sat at their customary seats, slurping down bowls of noodle. "So, Naruto what have you been up to? I haven't seen you in a while."

"Training with Ero-sennin!" He said between gulps. "He's been teaching me some cool jutsu and I can't wait to show Sasuke-teme!"

"Where is he, by the way?"

"He's on a mission with Shino and Neji, they went to water country." Naruto grumbled, looking slightly green with jealousy.

"Three of our best shinobi, in Water country?"

Naruto shrugged, "Who cares what stupid Sasuke does?" He downed the rest of his ramen and ordered two more. "So, how are things with you?"

"I just got back from my first mission as a medic-nin!" She said proudly, pushing away thoughts of Kakashi. "I got to work with the ANBU!"

"Luckyyyy!" Naruto whined. "I never get to do anything cool."

"What do you mean? You are training with the legendary frog sennin! You should be honoured!"

"You're training with baa-san! She's sennin too."

"It's more like, I'm living at the hospital. My studying is pretty much over, it's all training and applying the knowledge." Sakura mumbled and took up a fresh bowl of ramen. "Besides, Tsunade-sama is too busy being Hokage to worry about me."

"Are you going to take the Jounin exams?"

"Of course. They are coming up next month, aren't they?"

"Yep! I'm getting ready for them." Naruto said happily.

Polishing off a third bowl of ramen, she suddenly felt sleepy and sated. "Well, I'm going home to shower and go to bed. I'm exhausted."

"Okay, I'll see you later Sakura-chan!" He said, ordering a fourth bowl of ramen for himself.

"Take care, Naruto!" She said and was off, bundling herself up in the ANBU cloak.

When she got home, she was shocked to find that her parents had already left. Shrugging of the hurt at being left behind, she threw off her clothes and took a hot shower. When she got out, she opted for a hot cup of tea before finding her way to bed. Dressed in her bathrobe and a towel wrapped like a turban around her head, she went downstairs to turn the kettle on only to find Kakashi sitting at the kitchen table with a big mug of tea in front of him. She scowled at him and took the mug, it was half full. She sipped at it and sat in the chair that had been pushed out for her. "What do you want, Kakashi-sensei?"

"I want to know what is going on, Sakura."

"Why do you care?" Her words were muffled in her cup as she drank.

"I care because you are my student, Sakura."

"Former student, Kakashi-sensei. Remember? I am now under Tsunade's tutelage."

"It doesn't matter. You are still mine." His words made her heart race, "And I have a right to be concerned."

"You don't know what you are saying, Kakashi-sensei."

"I'll ask this only once more, Sakura; what is going on?"

Pulling the damp towel off of her head, Sakura threw it on a vacant chair. She ran her hands through her hair, picking at the knots. She fiddled with the damp mass of pink hair as she contemplated telling him the entire truth. "What if someone you knew became someone else... what would you do?"

He blinked, "What?"

"I mean, what if someone you knew changed so much that you didn't recognize them. Then, you based all of your feelings around that person, who you thought was a stranger... but really wasn't."

"Sakura, just spit it out."

Unable to really put into words what she was trying to say, she sighed. "I'm going to be in so much trouble for this." Sakura grumbled, picturing the look on Tsunade's face once she found out what she had done. With a deep, gusty sigh, Sakura clenched her eyes shut and sliced off the constant feed of Chakra to her body. It was like pulling the plug and feeling the power bleed out. She rerouted the energy into the spot on the back of her neck. Her body began to vibrate as the cells in her body sped up, maturing and filling out her gangly form. Her fingernails and hair grew at an obscenely fast rate, as did everything else on her body. When finally the shimmering stopped, she opened her eyes and stared at Kakashi. "I'm Naoru!"

**TBC **

Talk about a cliffhanger! Sorry guys!


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: **Sorry for the cliffhanger! Lol... I can hear the screams of frustration. :D I hope there wasn't too much damage! Anyways, I figure there's one more chapter after this. You'll probably see that on Monday. Seeing how tomorrow I get to go to Toronto to see the big Car Show and I won't be back until Friday. And then my weekends are reserved for my hunny! But don't fret. After this rejuvenating week, I'll have a really, really good last chapter for you all AND the beginning to my next series called '_Baneflower'_ Which is a SakuraXKakashi, SakuraXNarutoXSasuke fic. Until then, love you all and keep reviewing:D I likes it!

** Disclaimer:** Don't own it. Obviously.

**Chapter 9 **

He found himself sitting at the bar again, drowning his sorrows. He had picked a different bar this time, hoping that she wouldn't appear. She being Naoru who was really Sakura. That thought depressed him.

He had forgotten that this place was somewhere that Iruka liked to frequent. The buoyant teacher had taken to sitting by Kakashi after making his presence known. Kakashi didn't really care, he had enough problems that he had to sort out that it distracted him from Iruka's banter. His main issue was Sakura. Unwittingly, he had surpassed the boundaries of comfortable mentor-student status and no matter how hard he thought of a solution to get himself back to that status, all of them ended up breaking Sakura's heart.

He wondered why he was so vehemently opposed to dating his former student. He liked her, that was certain. He enjoyed her company. He admired her courage and her strength. It didn't help much that she was stunning, even for someone who was fourteen years younger than him.

Iruka sensed that his companion was in deep thought. He sat quietly, waiting for Kakashi to say something that would hint at what was bothering him. It took a while but Iruka was patient. Finally, Kakashi muttered, "I can't believe I fell for it."

"Fell for what?"

Kakashi glanced at his friend, for the first time that night, acknowledging his presence. "Naoru. She's not what she seems." Just as Rin hadn't been what she had seemed, either. But that was an unfair comparison, he thought defensively. Sakura's circumstance had been entirely innocent and she hadn't betrayed anyone willingly. She had been sworn to secrecy.

"Oh?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Kakashi murmured and stood to leave. "See you later, Iruka." He waved and left the bar, stepping out into the bitter cold.

It had been two days since she had confessed to him and he hadn't taken it well, at all. He remembered her pleas to come back and talk to her, something that she wanted to explain but he hadn't cared at that time. He felt selfish. He wanted to be alone to cope with what she had shoved in his face and expected him to deal with so suddenly. Despite what people thought of Kakashi, he didn't really like to think. Human emotions were too unpredictable and he thought the world would be a better place without them.

It was too cold for him to wander far, so he went back to his house and peeled off his clothes. A long, hot shower chased away the chill that had slipped deep within his extremities, but it did nothing to ease the numbness in his soul.

Why couldn't he have Sakura? She's a child, the logical voice in his head answered. But it was perfectly fine when she was masquerading as an older woman? It was fine when she had the body and the face of someone closer to his age? Or was it that he didn't want people to think less of him for dating such a young woman, and his ex-pupil no less?

He flopped on his couch and laid there, staring at the ceiling. Wearing nothing more than a towel draped around his waist and one over his head, conspicuously hiding his left eye, he thought about his little predicament. A predicament with pink hair and a lithe, strong body. Green eyes that made even the finest emeralds fade in comparison. Kakashi shook his head to banish the thoughts, vowing to put a stop to the _icha icha paradise_ because it was obviously rotting his brain as well as his morals. Preying after young girls was inexcusable; poetic metaphors, well that was just sick.

Something glittered pink in the corner of his eye. He turned his head and caught sight of the small hairpin underneath his coffee table. Grabbing hold of it, he twirled it in his fingers and watched the light catch off of the crystal petals. "To forehead girl" It said, etched into the long steely stem.

"Forehead girl..." Kakashi muttered. That was Ino's nickname for Sakura. The answer had been here all along, but he had been too caught up to even see it.

In the morning he wandered through the hospital, just trying to get a glimpse of pink hair. Unfortunately, she had taken the day off, as a young nurse by the name of Tami explained.

He went by Tsunade's office. She was hunched over her desk, writing something furiously.

"Kakashi-san!" She called out.

Standing by the door, he waited until she beckoned further. He settled in his chair and watched her finish her notary before asking what she wanted.

"Is there something bothering you, Kakashi-san?" She asked, folding her hands in front of her.

"Why?"

"Because Sakura came to me a while ago, distressed. She talked a bit about telling you of her breakthrough jutsu."

"And why do you think that it bothers me?"

"You brought her home the first night she performed the jutsu."

That's right, Shizune had been in the crowd that night, Kakashi remembered. He sighed, "She has confessed feelings for me and I told her its inappropriate. She's too young and she's my student."

"Ex student, Kakashi." Tsunade chirped.

"Regardless, it goes against the rules. A shinobi shouldn't mix business with pleasure."

"Kakashi, stop being such a stiff-ass and go get the girl."

He blinked at her choice of words. "Stiff ass?"

"That's right." She huffed, "I understand that you have followed the rules all your life but sometimes, there comes a time where one must make their own rules. You don't become a great shinobi by following rules, you become a great shinobi by making your own but maintaining your humility." What she had said came painfully close to a memory that made the scar over his eye itch.

The silence between the two legendary shinobi was heavy. "That's deep." He grunted.

"That's all you have to say?" Tsunade snapped, her temper peeking through her congenial mask.

"Maa! Maa! Calm down, Tsunade-sama!"

"Get out, fool!" She barked, feeling embarrassed and completely exasperated with the silver haired jounin. Men were just so clueless sometimes.

_----------KluvsS---------_

Nothing felt better than training until you were so exhausted you could barely stand, Sakura thought happily as she collapsed against the trunk of a tree. She grinned at her sparring partner, Ino. Ino looked just as exhausted as Sakura felt, which meant she had given as good as she had received.

"Sakura-chan, I'm tired. Lets call it a day." Ino said between gasps.

Sakura nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Whatever, forehead girl."

"Tomorrow then, Miss Piggy!" Sakura called after Ino as the blond walked down the path that led to the village.

Sakura sat with her back against the tree trunk. She thought about her current situation– mainly, she thought about Kakashi. She had promised herself she wouldn't cry about it. She was stronger than that. So far, so good. She leaned her head back, feeling the rough bark dig into her scalp.

"Stupid Kakashi!" She thought, picturing herself punching said offender in the mouth for all the aggravation he caused her. With another burst of energy, she stood up and rammed her foot into the tree. It shook from the force of her hit, sending snow and icicles dropping from branches. She squealed as a particularly wet, cold glob of snow dropped on her head and into the back of her coat.

"Cold! Cold!" She hopped around, trying to dig the snow out from her collar.

A snowball smacked her in the head, sending more snow down her shirt. She turned around, seeking the offender and stopped mid curse when she spied Kakashi. "You should always pay attention to your surroundings, Sakura." He said. "That could have been something worse, like a kunai or a shuriken."

Sakura stared. She stared because she couldn't think of anything else to do. She wondered what he was doing here. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to give you this." Kakashi tossed the hairpin at her, she caught it in midair. "I found it under my coffee table."

After tucking the pin safely in her coat pocket, she looked up and half expected him to be gone. He wasn't. He leaned against a tree and watched her as she walked towards him. "Is that all?"

"No."

"What else then?" Sakura asked, stopping just out of arms' reach.

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" She asked guardedly.

"Sorry for not realizing who you really were, sooner."

"And who am I, Kakashi?"

"A talented, smart and beautiful Kunoichi."

"And also your ex student AND too young to go to a bar. So what are you playing at, Kakashi?" She asked angrily.

"It's against the rules for a teacher to love a student."

"It's against a Kunoichi's rules to show love. Period. Does that bother you?" She blurted and then blushed furiously as she realized her admission of love for the impossible teacher.

"I think its alright to break the rules, sometimes." He said, watching her intently.

Sakura stared at Kakashi, wondering what she was supposed to feel. She felt the icy cold water sliding down her spine, soaking the back of her shirt. She stepped closer to him, letting him draw her into his arms. He wrapped tightly around her and held her against his chest.

He rested his face against her hair, smelling strawberries. They were sweet and intoxicating, just as she was. Just as her secrets were. "Sakura, it'll be hard for me to admit my feelings but know that you will always be my precious person."

"Don't worry, Kakashi. I think I knew that for a long time, now." She said, looking up at him. Her hands reached up and pulled away the mask. On tiptoes, she planted her slightly blue lips on his, drawing in his warmth. Their kiss deepened, chasing away all threat of the cold from their bodies. He claimed her mouth with his own, tongues clashed and melded like quicksilver. Teeth clacked together as their kiss grew frantic, their breaths grew short. He pushed her away and stared down at her, finding himself being drawn into the liquid depths of her eyes.

The feelings that she revived in him– the hope that there might be room for something warm and vibrant in his life, left him feeling giddy inside. He wanted to find out all the little secrets about her, everything that made her smile and laugh and cry. He knew that he had a head start, but that wasn't enough. He wanted more. How could one person make him feel so... Complete?

"What are you thinking, Kakashi?"

"About you."

She grinned, "Good." Hooking a finger in the mask that was tied loosely around his neck, Sakura pulled him down and kissed him again, "I'm cold."

"Then let me warm you up." He grinned, pulling her closer.

**TBC**


End file.
